Fluid Power Journal

Then and Now: Energy Awareness

By Dan Helgerson, CFPAI/AJPP, CFPS, CFPECS, CFPSD, CFPMT, CFPCC In 1994, I visited an injection molding plant in Claremont, New Hampshire. The facility had …

How Much Coal Does That Valve Burn?

Richard F. Bullers Back when gasoline was 35 cents a gallon, the term “environmental technology” was not well known. Engineers did not often promote the …

Begin at the End

I was recently at a conference addressing the issue of efficiency in fluid power systems, specifically in hydraulics.  The conference was focused on existing …

Quads and the Fluid Power Systems Conference

When I first heard the word “quadrillion,” I thought it was a fictitious number like “gazillion” or “bazillion,” but it turns out to be a real …

You Made the Mess; Now You Clean It Up!

Now, don’t laugh, but I once designed a hydraulic system for automatically cleaning horse stalls using the energy from the movement of the waiting horse. I …

Use It or Lose It

We are planning on making a system more efficient here at the steel mill. Two overdesigned hydraulic power units are each operating continuously 24/7. Each one …

I Know, It Hertz

I am pretty sure I am going to get some flack from what I am going to say in this article, but before you conclude that I don’t know what I am talking …

6 Surprising Capabilities of Modern Hydraulics

Anyone gaining only a superfluous familiarity with fluid technology can easily underestimate the performance and intelligence of modern hydraulics. Who would …

Something Is Missing: Using Alternative Energy

There is something missing in my repertoire of fluid power components. Can you help me? In the Off-Highway 2010 edition of the Fluid Power Journal, Brian …

A Failed Experiment

Now, don’t get discouraged. When we push the envelope trying to change the paradigm of thinking in the transfer of energy in fluid power systems, we will …