Downstream Throttled Pneumatic Drives with Time-Controlled Pneumatic-Mechanical Quick-Exhaust Valve

Lecture notes in mechanical engineering, pp. 1–13

Abstract

Abstract To enhance the energy efficiency of pneumatic drives, various approaches to control air supply have been developed with the aim of reducing air consumption. However, strategies focusing solely on controlling air exhaust, potentially leading to shorter cycle times, have not been explored as extensively. State-of-the-art sizing methods, nevertheless, reveal a quadratic relationship between air consumption and cylinder transfer time. Thus, shortening cycle time, compared to conventional downstream throttling, results in a disproportionate decrease in energy consumption. This paper proposes a novel mechanical solution to exploit this relationship, which is investigated through a lumped parameter simulation. The preliminary results show that downsizing the cylinder drive by at least one size is feasible with the novel system, and a remarkable performance increase is achievable.

Authors 3

1. Olivier Reinertz corresponding Aachen Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2. Christian Reese Aachen Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

3. Katharina Schmitz Aachen Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany