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The Problem – Measuring Pressure Drops in Hydraulic Systems Hydraulic systems typically have operating pressures ranging from several hundred psig upwards to 2000 or 3000 psig. It can be important to measure small pressure drops that occur throughout the hydraulic flow loop. As hydraulic fluid flows through fittings, filters, control valves, etc, small pressure drops occur that cause energy losses. Testing prototype hydraulic systems can mean measuring these small pressure drops so that the efficiency of the system can be optimized.
The Solution The key to measuring small pressure drops in a hydraulic system is to use a differential pressure transducer that is capable of withstanding high system pressures while measuring low differential pressures. The DP transducer is plumbed across a fitting, for example, so that the + port is on the upstream side and the – port is on the downstream side. As the hydraulic fluid flows through the fitting, the pressure drop, perhaps just a few psi, is measured by the transducer. The upstream pressure could be 3000 psig, for example, and the downstream pressure 2996 psig. The pressure drop of 4 psi across the fitting will be accurately measured by a transducer whose full scale is, say, 5 psid. The transducer can withstand the roughly 3000 psig system pressure while measuring the small differential pressure that results from fluid flowing through the fitting. This pressure drop can be correlated to pump flow rates to help evaluate total system efficiency.
Validyne Products Validyne has a number of pressure transducers that are ideal for hydraulic measurements. The Model DP15, for example, can accept up to 3200 psig of static pressure while have a full scale differential pressure range of as little as 0.1 psid. The range of the DP15 can be changed by the user so that various system pressure losses can be investigated. The DP15 range can be changed to several hundred psid full scale to investigate the pressure drop across a hydraulic piston, for example. Other Validyne transducers, such as the DP360 and DP363 can accept static pressures as high as 12,500 psig while measuring differential pressures as low as 5 psid. When combined with a suitable carrier demodulator these transducers provide a +/-10 Vdc analog signal for a data acquisition system and an optional digital display.
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| Phone: 818.886.2057 || Email: Sales@validyne.com |
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