Hydraulic System Energy Audits
What is a Hydraulic Audit, and what are the benefits?
Hydraulic audits are carried out for 2 reasons. Firstly, an audit is the ideal initial step in getting a poorly performing hydraulic system up to scratch, and secondly they are the best way of ensuring systems run trouble free for many years.
A full audit includes a design review of the system, followed by detailed assessment and measurement of key aspects of the system on site. An audit will provide the following results:
- Recommendations for circuit or component changes to deal with specific reliability or operational performance problems.
- Details of any potential safety issues with the system such as under-rated pipework, inappropriate use of components, and potential hazards that may appear under likely failure scenarios.
- Details of energy efficiency, and how it may be improved.
- List of faults with the system, and list of components in poor condition that should be planned for changeout before they fail.
- Resetting of all adjustable settings back to correct levels (e.g. pressure settings, accumulator precharge etc.)
- Repairs to minor faults as can be carried out during the audit.
- Trending of condition of key components such as pumps and proportional valves over multiple audits.
CMA carries out audits for a number of customers, with the hydraulic audit being the dominant maintenance strategy for important systems. They are usually carried out every 6 to 12 months, and require some plant outage to complete.