Maximizing Component Efficiency Through Electrification

 Both to remain on the cutting edge of the industry and to meet customer needs, OEMs are all looking for ways to embrace electrification and offer the corresponding benefits to their end users. One of those benefits is the ability to account for nearly all the power being put out by the machine, consequently eliminating energy waste, and maximizing efficiency. This can be accomplished by integrating a battery, some electrical components, and high efficiency hydraulic components, into a machine’s control system, you can closely monitor all outputs, and tune the operation of the piece of equipment to get the maximum performance out of its components.

In the solution pictured above, our engineering team designed an electric truck mounted PTO system and integrating it into the machine’s main control system using CAN communication. There are a few components that were critical to its optimal efficiency.

• Marzocchi Elika pump with a helical design. A standard gear pump needs to run at a much higher RPM to gain better efficiency numbers from the pump, but due to its unique design, the Elika pump can maintain that higher level of efficiency at much lower RPMs.
• Parker GVM Motor. If your equipment relies on a diesel engine, whatever flow you don’t use is simply dumped off as a heat low. But with an electric power source, like the GVM motor, you can see all of the energy being output within the main control system.

This innovative system allows you to know exactly what is needed for the functions being used, so that the pump in turn will operate at just over the required flow. For example, if the operator is performing a task that requires 2.5 gallons per minute, the pump’s RPM can be adjusted to 2.6 gallons per minute, creating very little excess energy. The ability to fine tune the motor and pump assembly, and the battery,  to the operation being used, supports maximum performance with the smallest amount of power possible. As more and more OEMs look for creative ways to embrace electrification, whether in a similar truck mounted system or a different application like smaller construction equipment, targeting specific but extremely beneficial aspects like this will keep machinery at the forefront of innovation.