Would you want the suitable hydraulic fluid to serve your hydraulic pump, hydraulic motor or other hydraulic components? Unfortunately, choosing the right hydraulic fluid isn’t an easy project and this article will show you some common hydraulic fluids and how to choose the right hydraulic fluid.
What’s The Hydraulic Fluid?
Hydraulic fluid is non-compressible fluid and is widely used to transfer power in various mobile hydraulics components and other hydraulic machinery such as agricultural, mining-off and forestry equipment. In addition to the core power transmission function, hydraulic fluids also lubricate moving parts to reduce wear. Most importantly, hydraulic fluids can directly affect hydraulic system efficiency and component lifespan.
What Types of Hydraulic Fluid Can You Choose?
Mineral-Based Hydraulic Fluid
The main components of mineral-based hydraulic fluid are petroleum and they can operate normally in the temperature ranging from -20°C to 70°C. If you want to choose a lower-cost and durable hydraulic fluid, mineral-based hydraulic fluid is undoubtedly your best choice, which can be applied in the telescopic hydraulic cylinder of dump trucks or cranes.
In addition, additives with different properties can also be added to mineral-based hydraulic fluid, which can enhance anti-wear, rust, oxidation capabilities and improve the viscosity index.
Synthetic-Based Hydraulic Fluid
Synthetic-based hydraulic fluid is a chemically synthesized compound. It has superior performance to fight high temperature oxidation, wear and emulsion resistance, making it more suitable to high temperature or severe water contamination environments.
With the synthetic-based hydraulic fluid,it can help your hydraulic equipment extend the fluid change cycle, reduce downtime and improve efficiency.
Fire-Resistant Hydraulic Fluid
Fire-resistant hydraulic fluids are made of water-glycol fluids,water-free synthetic fluids or other fire-resistant fluids. Thanks to the excellent fire resistance of these materials, auto-ignition temperatures of these fire-resistant hydraulic fluids are much higher than ordinary mineral hydraulic fluids and are hard to ignite. These properties make it become an ideal option particularly in equipment operating in high temperature environments such as
smelting or power generation equipment.
Rapidly Biodegradable Hydraulic Fluid
Rapidly biodegradable hydraulic fluid is a new type of hydraulic fluid and has excellent ecological compatibility. It is mainly composed of vegetable and base oil so it can decompose quickly in nature even if it leaks accidentally from the equipment. For environmentally sensitive industries such as double acting hydraulic hand pumps of agriculture, forestry and marine equipment, rapidly biodegradable hydraulic fluid is a suitable choice for these hydraulic systems.
Food-Grade Hydraulic Fluid
Food-grade hydraulic fluid is non-toxic and safe, ensuring safety in case of accidental contact with food and not producing harmful substances. This excellent performance
is particularly suitable for food, beverage, or pharmaceutical industries such as orbital hydraulic motors of food processing and packaging equipment.
3. Key Considerations for Choosing The Right Hydraulic Fluid
If you need to choose the right hydraulic fluid for your hydraulic equipment, various considerations may lead you to choose inappropriate hydraulic fluids and reduce efficiency or even damage the hydraulic system. There are some key considerations that can help you choose efficient and right hydraulic fluids.
1. Core Components
The hydraulic pump is the core component of the hydraulic system, and you can firstly determine hydraulic fluid based on the types of hydraulic pumps. After you have chosen a suitable hydraulic fluid that meets the requirements of the hydraulic pump, the requirements of other components can be included too.
There are three main types of hydraulic pumps: hydraulic gear pump, hydraulic vane pump and hydraulic plunger pump. For hydraulic gear pumps, you can just choose basic hydraulic fluids like mineral-based hydraulic fluid. For hydraulic vane pumps, they are heavily loaded and their vanes have inevitable friction. Wear resistance of hydraulic fluids should be considered. Hydraulic plunger pumps often work under high temperature and pressure, so they require not only high wear resistance, but also high thermal stability hydraulic fluids.
2. Working Temperature
In order to ensure sufficient fluid film strength and long service life under different temperatures, you should choose hydraulic fluids with special properties based on specific working temperatures.
If your equipment is working in a cold environment, you need to choose hydraulic fluid with a low pour point and high viscosity index to ensure your hydraulic equipment can start at low temperatures. On the contrary, if your hydraulic system works in a high temperature environment, hydraulic fluids with high viscosity index and good oxidation resistance are more suitable.
3. Viscosity
Viscosity is an important indicator for choosing hydraulic oil and viscosity grades are usually expressed as ISO VG such as VG 32, VG 46, VG 68. You need to know the larger the number, the higher the viscosity grade.
For outdoor hydraulic equipment or working conditions with large temperature differences, you should choose hydraulic fluids with high viscosity index, which can keep viscosity relatively stable under various conditions.
4. Oxidation Stability
You can also choose hydraulic fluid based on whether you want long service life or reduce equipment cleaning frequency. Hydraulic fluid with strong oxidation stability is not easy to deteriorate and produce precipitation, which can avoid increasing the viscosity of hydraulic fluids or affect normal operation.
Moreover, if hydraulic fluids deteriorate, they will corrode the internal components of the hydraulic system and reduce both hydraulic fluids and hydraulic equipment service life.
5. Anti-Wear Properties
Anti-wear properties can also be considered when choosing hydraulic fluids. If your hydraulic components such as hydraulic motor or hydraulic gear pump are running under high pressure and heavy load for a long time, anti-wear properties are able to help you reduce repair and replacement costs caused by wear.
Conclusion
From this article, I believe you must know how to choose the right hydraulic fluid based on your specific project requirements and key considerations about choosing it. If you are looking for a trustworthy partner, Target is undoubtedly a good choice for you. Contact us right away and we will provide a one-stop solution for you.
FAQ
What conditions will change the viscosity of hydraulic fluid?
Temperature has the greatest impact on hydraulic fluid, the viscosity will decrease as the temperature increases. Excessive viscosity will clog the hydraulic system and prevent it from working properly. Besides this, internal operating pressure also changes viscosity. The higher the pressure, the greater the viscosity. And as hydraulic fluid’s use time increases, the viscosity of the hydraulic oil will decrease.
