Many hydraulic power units still work with constant motor and pump speeds. However, variable-speed pump drives allow application designers to realise energy savings of up to 70 % at only slightly higher investment costs. Once in use, the investment will pay for itself in less than a year in the form of reduced energy consumption. In addition, hydraulic power units with variable speed drives generate less heat, reduce wear and consume less oil, which further increases the availability and reliability of your machines and systems. Our white paper on “Planning and operating hydraulic power units to provide greater energy efficiency” contains background information, best practices and practical examples for the implementation of fluid control applications with variable speed drives.

 

A prerequisite for improving the productivity of pumps and hydraulic applications is the collection and evaluation of the relevant system data. Once you know the exact performance values of your application and how they change over time, you can identify vulnerabilities and component wear. These data put you in a position to start developing rules and guidelines for performing predictive maintenance, which will prevent or at least notably reduce unplanned production downtime. Eaton's integrated systems start with the easy capture of all the relevant application data, from the valves all the way to the frequency-controlled drives. The data are automatically structured and forwarded for storage.

For data storage, Eaton offers the Predictive Maintenance Portal, which relies on the secure Microsoft Azure Cloud infrastructure and features a number of pre-integrated intuitive tools for the evaluation of your data. Fast and secure visualisation can be implemented via mobile devices, and you can also give your partners and service provides access to different sub-sets of data, as required. This makes it easy for you to run your business with machines that are both more reliable and more profitable thanks to secure digital information.

ATP Hydraulik from Switzerland designs and manufactures hydraulic and mechatronic systems, including electronic controls and automation components. As part of the London Crossrail project, the company was awarded a contract to design and supply the cylinders, hydraulic power units, piping, electrical and hydraulic components and the software for two bespoke drilling rigs. In addition to all piping and cabling, ATP supplied the lubrication circuits, as well as the fire detection and extinguishing systems. The company decided to collaborate with Eaton on the mechatronic system, which integrates both electrical and hydraulic components. By using only one manufacturer, ATP was able to offer the shortest possible development time. Cost savings were achieved by reducing the wiring time and the time required for I/O testing and commissioning.

Industrial hydraulic systems usually require not only the integration of electrical and hydraulic products, but also rely on data capture and secure connectivity to external storage platforms such as cloud or edge systems. Solving these tasks with an integrated system from a single source facilitates and accelerates implementation and mitigates the risk of interface problems.

Our solution map highlights the connectivity options, from the hydraulic devices and sensors through the variable frequency drives all the way to data storage and visualisation in the cloud.