One of the ways to eliminate hydraulic pumps’ heat generation is related to efficiency. The efficiency of the pump is directly related to how much energy is being used downstream. If you have a gear pump or any other pump because of wear that is, say, 80% efficient, if you’re putting in 10 input of horsepower, 2 horsepower right off the bat, regardless of how poor your circuit design is being used, is wasted as heat.
Any energy being put into a pump that is not creating useful work somewhere downstream is 100% heat. The ranking goes from gear pumps to vane pumps to piston pumps.
Inside gear pumps are fairly efficient, upwards of what a piston pump is. How that effects a system, there’s a lot of ways you can design a hydraulic circuit to be efficient as well. The pump is only the starting point. If you care about energy and your usage and the environment, you should start with one of the efficient ones, like a piston pump.
Filed Under: Mobile Hydraulic Tips