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Engineering Basics

How do you repair pneumatic cylinders?

March 1, 2023 By Mary Gannon

Cylinder piston rod

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor I’ve seen many pneumatic cylinders in my fifteen years in fluid power. From pancake to ISO and from NFPA to compact round line, there are as many types of air cylinders as there are applications for them. With so many cylinders and ways to use them, there are many ways […]

Filed Under: Components, Cylinders, Engineering Basics, Featured

Why do pneumatic cylinders fail?

February 9, 2023 By Mary Gannon

Pneumatic cylinders seal failure

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor It would be easy to assume all cylinders fail in the same fashion — that hydraulic cylinders bypass and air cylinders experience bent rods. However, it’s a false assumption because the nature of their operation and intended application differ. Sure, a hydraulic cylinder can bypass but not as easily as […]

Filed Under: Actuators, Components, Cylinders, Engineering Basics, Featured

Why is compressor control important?

January 20, 2023 By Paul Heney

When controlling screw compressors, the goal is to try to keep all the running compressors fully loaded except one. And the one running partly loaded (called trim) is selected as the one having best part load efficiency characteristics. When there are only two or three compressors in a group, it is quite easy to set […]

Filed Under: Air Compressors, Air Preparation, Engineering Basics

How do air motors work?

October 7, 2022 By Mary Gannon

The P1V-M ATEX certified rotary vane air motor from Parker Hannifin is available in five different sizes and power ratings of 200, 400, 600, 900 and 1200 W.

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor A motor is any device designed to convert one form of energy into rotational mechanical force. For example, an electric motor converts electrical potential into mechanical torque, and a hydraulic motor converts hydraulic energy from pressure and flow into mechanical torque. And an air motor converts compressed air into that […]

Filed Under: Actuators, Components, Engineering Basics, Featured

What are pneumatic actuators?

October 7, 2022 By Mary Gannon

D2-Series double-acting, NFPA heavy-duty tie rod air cylinders are for use where abusive conditions exist. Image courtesy of AutomationDirect

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Pneumatic actuators take advantage of compressed air to provide your machine with quick and powerful actuation of nearly infinite possible functions. Pneumatic actuators may take the form of cylinders, motors, slides, grippers and rotary actuators, each of which receives pressurized and compressed air to create linear or rotational force. The […]

Filed Under: Actuators, Components, Cylinders, Engineering Basics

How do pneumatics technologies work?

October 2, 2022 By Mary Gannon

pneumatics technologies air flow adobe stock

Pneumatics is a fluid power technology similar to hydraulics in that it transmits force through a pressurized medium to create useful work. However, pneumatic technology differs from hydraulics in every critical fashion — compressibility. To be fair, hydraulic oil compresses as well, but only 0.4 percent every thousand psi or so. However, in the simplest […]

Filed Under: Engineering Basics, Featured

What are pneumatic rotary actuators?

September 29, 2022 By Mary Gannon

Norgren offers rotary actuators in rack and pinion (left) and rotary vane variants (right).

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Rotary actuators are devices used to transmit torque through a limited rotational arc. Rather than pneumatic motors, which rotate continuously, pneumatic rotary actuators move a load through a limited range of motion. Some actuators rotate through two discrete positions, while others are capable of positioning at any angle around the […]

Filed Under: Actuators, Components, Engineering Basics, Featured

How do you specify electropneumatic flow controllers and regulators?

September 8, 2022 By Mary Gannon

electropneumatic flow controllers and regulators shutterstock_1550034317

Electropneumatic flow controllers and regulators are by nature both electrical and mechanical, thus requiring the designer to develop two sets of specifications for the regulator to function properly.  The pneumatic or mechanical portion of the device is the same as a standard flow control valve or regulator. As with many things in fluid power, the […]

Filed Under: Components, Engineering Basics, Featured, Regulators, Valves

Designing optimum pneumatic systems for food & beverage packaging

August 22, 2022 By Mary Gannon

The MPA-C manifold, top center, is installed in a hard to adjust position. Proportional pressure regulators, lower left, plumbed to the manifold, solve the adjustment problem. | courtesy of festo

These tips not only adhere to food safety guidelines, but also serve to improve machine utilization and performance. By Steve Bain, Food and Beverage Industry Segment Manager, Festo Before describing the four pneumatic automation design tips for food and beverage packaging applications, it is a good idea to answer a fundamental question: Why apply pneumatic […]

Filed Under: Actuators, Blog, Components, Cylinders, Engineering Basics, Featured, Fittings Tagged With: festo

Can electropneumatic regulators be used in hazardous locations?

August 11, 2022 By Mary Gannon

Hazardous locations require products built specifically for them. Propotion-Air’s FM-approved line includes three intrinsically safe devices serving customizable pressure ranges from vacuum up to 150 psig and flows to 200 scfm, and one non-incendive device handling pressures up to 150 psig and flows to 0.80 scfm.

When thinking of hazardous locations, one’s mind conjures an oil/gas drilling rig, refinery, or underground coal mine — all these locations have in the past utilized traditional pneumatics as risk reduction because they do not have a spark risk, which a solenoid’s electrical actuation requires and creates. Expanding our view of hazardous locations, we should […]

Filed Under: Air Preparation, Components, Engineering Basics, Regulators, Valves

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