Hydraulic Pump Buying Guide: How Do I Choose A Hydraulic Power Pack?

The hydraulic pump is a kind of device that can transport the media. They use to transform the energy that is supplied by the motor into hydraulic energy. However, choosing the right hydraulic power pack is never an easy task as there are various factors that you have to look into before purchasing it. Moreover, you must know what media you need to transfer as depending on the media you should choose the hydraulic pipe. Hence, in this article, we have come up with a complete guide that will certainly help you to choose the right hydraulic power pack.

How to choose the right hydraulic power pack?

For choosing the right pump you must first determine the characteristics of the pump as per its uses. The following are the characteristics that you must check in the hydraulic power pack:

  • The first thing that you need to determine is what type of media you will transfer through the pump. You must know the details about the chemical composition of the media that needs to be pumped. You must know the viscosity of the chemicals as well as what kind of solid components are present in them. If you have thorough knowledge about the physical component of the fluid it will help you to choose the right technology for your project. You can choose the right casing of the pump by consulting the chemical compatibility tables as well as checking the characteristics that are related to transporting the media.
  • It is also necessary to determine the size and dimensions of the pump for which you must the rate of the flow of the liquid. The rate of the flow of the liquid is measured in cubic meters per hour  m3h or gallon per minute.
  • The next thing that you must check is the suction head i.e. the height that exists in between the intel of the suction pipe and the pump. This height should be more than 10 meters. Moreover, you should also check the discharge head which is the height that exists in between the pump as well as the discharge pump outlet.
  • You should also check the length of the discharge circuit for which you must know the gasoline hydraulic power unit.
  • You also need to check the valves which are used to calculate the Net Positive Suction Head Available (NPSHa) of the setup. With the help of NPSHa, you will be able to select the right type of pump as well a can avoid any risk of cavitation. Apart from that, it also helps you to control the efficiency that is optimal at 30% more or less than that of the required normal flow rate.    

What types of Hydraulic pumps are available in the market?

Basically, there are three types of hydraulic pumps and those are as follows:

  • Gear Pumps: This is the most common type of hydraulic pump and is mainly used for truck-mounted hydraulic systems. This hydraulic pump comes up with fewer moving parts. Apart from that, this type of pump is easy to service. Moreover, such a type of pump can tolerate more contamination as compared to other kinds of pumps. Hence, although it is quite expensive it is better to have this type of pump.

This type of pump also comes up with a fixed displacement and so it is called a positive displacement pump. With each rotation of the pump’s shaft, the same volume of the flow can be produced. This pump is rated with maximum pressure rating, cubic inch displacement as well as maximum input speed limitation.

  • Piston Pumps: This kind of pump is mainly used when high operating pressures are required. It traditionally withstands high pressures as compared to that of the gear pumps with comparable displacements. But this type of pump has a higher initial cost and is lower resistance to contamination. Hence such a type of pump has an increased complexity. This kind of pump also comes up with a fixed as well as a variable displacement. Apart from that, it also encompasses a cylinder block which consists of pistons that can move in and out. Due to this movement, oils are drawn from the supply port and can be forced through the outlet.
  • Clutch Pumps: This is another most popular pump that has a small displacement gear pump which is also equipped with a belt-driven as well as an electromagnetic clutch. Hence, it is almost like the air conditioner compressor of a car. It gets started if the operator of the pump switches on the truck cab. The clutch pump is highly used at the time when transmission power take-off aperture is not available. This type of application also includes aerial bucket trucks, wreckers as well as spikes. But this type of pump cannot be used if the output flows of the pump have more than 15 GPM.
  • Dump Pumps: This is another most recognizable hydraulic pump and is commonly used at the time of dumping applications. Hence, starting from the dump trailers to tandem axle dump trucks you can work with this type of hydraulic pump. But this type of pump is not suitable for any kind of common applications such as a live floor or elector trailers. This hydraulic pump is often directly mounted to the power take-off. It has a displacement that is over six cubic inches. Moreover, it also has a pressure relief assembly as well as an integral 3 position. Apart from that, it also consists of a 3-way directional control valve.
  • Refuse Pumps: This type of hydraulic pump is mainly used for refuse equipment. This pump has the ability to provide full flow when any require any kind of work. It comes up with large displacement front crankshaft-driven pumps. It also has a fully functioning bleed valve and has a wear plate as well as shaft seals and hence this type of pump is highly different from the gear or any other kind of pump.

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