Saturday, August 3, 2013

General Application Of Biodegradable Hydraulic Fluid

General Application Of Biodegradable Hydraulic Fluid

By Cathy Mercer


Biodegradable hydraulic fluid is used to transmit power in hydraulic machines. These devices use the principle that a small force exerted is transmitted through an incompressible fluid thus resulting in a much larger force. This principle is very important as it results in creation of large mechanical advantage in a wide range of machines.

In ancient times, water was once the main fluid used to transmit power. With time oil was found to be much more efficient. It is important to note that for fluids to be effective in transmission of pressure or power, they should be incompressible and have a low level of volatility.

For some time water was used until when it was discovered that oil is much more effective. It is important to note that besides transmitting power, these fluids play very important roles such as lubricating moving parts. This greatly helps increase the work time of a moving part by reducing friction which in turn reduces wear and tear.

Features of good pressure transmitting fluid include good thermal capacity and conductivity. This feature is very crucial as large amounts of heat are usually generated due to the great pressure involved. It is also recommended that these fluids should have low volatility so that they do not vaporize due to the high temperatures reached during pressure transmission.

The most common oil used in pressure transmission is mineral oil. This can be mainly attributed to the fact that it is readily available all over the world in large quantities. It is important to note that this oil does not naturally decompose thus causes pollution when exposed to the environment. In cases of oil spills during accidents or damage of hydraulic equipment the oil can accumulate in a particular Eco system to a level that interferes with animal and plant species.

Pressure transmitting fluids play a big role in reducing corrosion as a result of their anti wear characteristics. Most of the fluids used today are mineral oil based. This is mainly because they are easily available. Despite this advantage, many environmental concerns have been raised. Mineral oil based fluids do not naturally decompose thus tend to build up in the environment and thus resulting in pollution. Water pollution is very common where hydraulic machines are used in marine environment.

Introduction of natural oil as the pressure transmitting fluid has led to the development of biodegradable fluids that are used in environment sensitive applications. Some of these areas include marine areas where the probability of an oil spill is high. It is important to note that these environmental friendly fluids help large offshore corporations reduce their fines in the event of oil spills in hydraulic lines.

Failure to do this has resulted in big fines and lawsuits by environmental groups in the event of accidents and excess exposure of the non biodegradable oils to the environment. Companies that carry out most of their mining operations offshore are the most affected and thus have to adhere to the environmental regulations. This has resulted in switching from mineral oils to natural biodegradable hydraulic fluid.




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