INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

KHARAGPUR

NPTEL
ONLINE CERTIFICATION COURSE

On Industrial Automation and

Control

By Prof. S. Mukhopadhyay
Department of Electrical Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Topic Lecture – 38
Industrial Hydraulic Circuit

Keywords: relief valve, pilot pressure, check valve, extension and retraction stroke, limit switch,
system pressure, flow control valve.

Welcome to lesson 28 of industrial automation and control course under the NPTEL program
today we are, we are going to look at a very interesting topic.

(Refer Slide Time: 00:41)

In the last two lectures, we have seen various hydraulic system components, in this lecture we
will see how they can be joined together to form hydraulic circuits for various kinds of industrial
applications so that is going to be very interesting, for me at least to tell you.
(Refer Slide Time: 01:04)

So, looking at the instructional objectives, after this lesson a student should be able to cite typical
industrial activation problems, some very common problems which occur in the case of
industrial systems, so then in many cases we, you know energy is very expensive, so we do, we
never like to spend energy unnecessarily, so there are various kinds of energy saving schemes
especially hydraulic systems which are very high power systems, so saving energy is important.
So we will see how we can save energy for such systems and.

(Refer Slide Time: 01:55)

Sometimes we will find that we need to, you know we need to create motions using hydraulic
systems, so we need to adjust feeds, we need to adjust forces depending on the requirement of
the load, so how to do them, and finally we, all these circuits we will draw using some, using
specific hydraulic symbols, so we will see in the course of this lesson, how to interpret hydraulic
symbols, how to understand what components are being used and how to figure out how
hydraulic circuits work from a circuit diagram.

(Refer Slide Time: 02:37)

So, we first come to our first circuit, what is that, in this circuit it is called an unloading circuit,
so there are, see the circuit, there are two pumps, can you realize that, this is actually a hydraulic
pump, this is a hydraulic pump, this is also another hydraulic pump and they are being driven by
a common motor, so this is the prime mover, this is the prime mover and this pumps are actually
connected in parallel, this is where it is going to the load or the system.

So, the pump A flow is going this way, this is a check valve, so this way is free flow for the
check valve if you recall, this is flow of pump A and this is flow of pump B, they are being, they
are, they are getting joined here and the total flow, that is flow of pump A plus pump B is
actually flowing onto the load. Now you see we know that what is the hydraulic power
requirement, power requirement is force into flow rate or rather pressure into flow rate which is
equal to force into speed.

So, if the load force and finally we must recall, we must realize that the power comes from the
prime mover and the prime mover is designed to handle a certain amount of power, so if at
sudden at a certain point of time, the force requirement in the load goes up then just to be able to,
so that the power requirement does not go out of the prime movers capabilities, so we need to
reduce flow rate, right. So, for heavy loads we generally move them slowly and light loads we
can move them fast, right. So, what happens if suddenly the force requirement in the system goes
up, immediately what will happen is that the pressure here will tend to go up.

(Refer Slide Time: 04:45)

So, pressure will go up, now you see that there are two relief valves, this is one relief valve and
this is another relief valve. Now if we have decided that if the pressure goes up beyond this
setting, remember that we are talking about hydrostatic pumps or positive displacement pump
generally.

(Refer Slide Time: 05:08)

So, as long as the speed is the same, the volume being delivered is the same and the power
requirement is directly proportional to the pressure, assuming that the volumetric efficiency is
same, the leakage etc are not significant.

(Refer Slide Time: 05:29)

So now we want to, the pressure has gone up because the force requirement has gone up, so we
want to reduce flow rate, so what do we want to do, so we have this setting of this relief valve as,

(Refer Slide Time: 05:43)

If the setting is exceeded at some point then what is going to happen is that this relief valve will
vent, so the pump flow at that time, let me use a different color, so the pump flow at that time, so
this is the case for both pumps loaded, so let me go to the other diagram then we will be able to
see the case where pump A is unloaded. So then when pump A is unloaded because this relief
valve setting has been exceeded, so this is the flow rate of the pump, right and this, so this pump
gets unloaded.

So, therefore the power demand on this motor reduces and now the system is only fed from this
flow rate, right. So, you see that we have, we can unload a pump, when the pressure requirement
goes up to keep the power requirement, so that if the suddenly we put a very heavy load then it
will still be moved, but it will be moved slowly. This is our first example leads to some amount
of, you know leads.

(Refer Slide Time: 07:15)

Does not get into, now interestingly there is this one point to mention that what is the role of this
check valve, see when this pump is getting unloaded then remember that this flow cannot, this
flow cannot go through this path because this check valve is blocked. So, therefore this pump
really cannot unload through this relief valve, so this pump will continue to deliver until the
setting of this relief valve is also exceeded, you see all pumps have overload, overload protection
using relief valves.

So, if for some reason you have put such a heavy load which cannot be even handled by one
pump, in that case this relief valve will vent.

(Refer Slide Time: 07:59)

And the load will of course stop and the fluid will flow like this, but the motor load, motor will
be protected from overloading, so this is the way the circuit functions.

(Refer Slide Time: 08:12)

Then we go to the, our next circuit we are going to see a number of such applications, so the next
circuit is where we want to again, we want to, in this case what was happening is that the pump
was getting, if the pressure goes up then the pump gets unloaded, but now we want a different
thing, we want to select the pressure with which we want to drive the load. So, what happens is
here.

(Refer Slide Time: 08:43)

So, we have, we have three modes of the system, in the first mode the system will vent that is the
pump will be directly connected to tank, no fluid, no flow. Second is it will be operated at a low
working pressure. Thirdly it will be working at a high working pressure, so there are three modes
and we want to select the modes, so that happens like this.

(Refer Slide Time: 09:14)

So, here is the circuit, first for the vent mode, so in the vent mode, what is happening look at this
circuit, so what components do we have, we have the tank and the reservoir here, we have the
pump, we have the motor, we have a relief valve and this is where it goes to the system. Now the
pressure limits, the pressure up to which the system can occur will obviously be selected by this
release valve and this relief valve actually the, there are, this is a pilot operated relief valve.

So, in this valve at what, what is the setting of the relief valve that depends on the pilot pressure,
we have seen such valves before. Now so actually what we are going to do is.

(Refer Slide Time: 10:05)

So let us see what happens, so how is the pilot pressure determined, so let us look at the pilot
circuit so this is the pilot line dashed, so when there are, this is the directional valve right, there
are, it is a solenoid operated valve, you can see that from the symbol and there are two springs,
so when both solenoids are off then it is spring centered, so both the springs will push and it will
keep at the center. What is the position at the center, at the center it is the pump port is directly
connected to the tank.

So, if A and B neither of them are energized then this directional valve is at the center and
therefore the vent port of this relief valve C is actually connected directly through the central
position of the directional valve to the tank. So actually there is no pilot pressure, the pilot
pressure is actually a tank pressure and therefore this pressure is very low, so directly the pump
vents and no fluid goes to the system, so this is the operation in the venting mode. Now what
happened in the other modes, so let us go to the other modes.

(Refer Slide Time: 11:22)

So, in the medium pressure mode, what is happening is the following, so in the medium pressure
mode, we have energized solenoid A, so where we have energized solenoid A, we will assume
that this position, this position of the valve is active, so now the pump port is connected like this,
through this, through this, to this and this. So now the, what is the pilot pressure, the pilot
pressure is actually determined by the setting of this valve E, so whenever the pressure will
exceed the setting of this valve E, the vent port will open, therefore the system pressure gets
limited by the setting of E, setting of C, set C itself as a setting, its own setting, which is not, it is
also relief valve, so it has, this is a remote pilot.

But it has its own setting, so that setting is actually higher than that the setting of E, so in that
case, what is happening, so in this case the setting of the system pressure is actually limited by
the setting of E and E being the lower one of A and C, so therefore, we have a medium, the
limiting pressure is now medium.

(Refer Slide Time: 12:46)

So, now, we go to the, I am sorry, we go to the next one, which is the high pressure mode, so
what is happening in the high pressure mode, in the high pressure mode, we are now in this
position, so in this position what is happening, first see that this port is actually plugged, this is
plugged means that it is sealed. So, therefore the pilot pressure can go up to any level
theoretically, it can go to very high level.

(Refer Slide Time: 13:25)

So, the operation, so now the operation of this valve is not limited by the pilot pressure because
the pilot is connected to a plugged port, so the pilot does not vent the valve. So now it is operated
by its own setting, so now in this system pressure gets limited by the setting of the valve C itself.
And since the setting of the valve C is higher than that of E, so we can limit the system pressure
to a higher level.

(Refer Slide Time: 13:54)

So, you see that we are able to achieve this by either energizing A or energizing B or energizing
none, so we can select the system operating pressure mode, this is our second example.

(Refer Slide Time: 14:11)

So, in the third example, in the third example we have a very common circuit, which is a
reciprocating circuit. Hydraulic circuits are often required to execute cyclic motion that is,
suppose you have a cylinder it will extend it will push the load and it will come back, right. So
suppose some, suppose some conveyor belt has brought some item, so there may be hydraulic
arm which will push the item into the bill and then retract.

So, there are now various cases, in some cases the pushing forward is under a load, the pushing
backward is free, so there are various cases that arise and we will see some of these because this
extension retraction, reciprocating movement is a very common thing in hydraulic circuit. So, we
first look at a reciprocating circuit and in particular we look at the extension stroke first.

(Refer Slide Time: 15:17)

So here is the circuit, so what is happening here, very simple, again always start from the pump
so here is the pump the filter is the drain line, this is the relief valve which is typically used for
overload protection of the pump. Now in this case, see look at this valve, this valve has first of
all try to debate the symbol, the symbol has it each has a solenoid plus it has a hydraulic pilot, so
actually it is a probably this direction valve is actually a very big valve.

So, therefore, it is not operated only by a solenoid the previous valve was being operated only by
a solenoid. In this case, we are having a solenoid which is operating a hydraulic pilot which is
again in turn operating this big directional valve, right.

(Refer Slide Time: 16:11)

And we have in this case we have only one this thing, only one solenoid and the other side is, so
if you switch off the solenoid it will come to, so it has only two positions.

(Refer Slide Time: 16:26)

If the solenoid is off it goes to the right hand position, if the solenoids on it goes to the left hand
position. So now we are at the left hand position, when the solenoid is on, so the pump flow goes
like this, like this, like this and enters what is known as the cap end or the head end of the
cylinder, pushes it towards left. At the same time look at this line, this line is plugged here, so
there is nothing, this valve is a cam operated valve, so unless the cam is up, when the cam is
operated this supposed to be in the left position, when the cam is not operated is supposed to be
the right position.

So, currently it is in the right position, so this side is off, this side is off mean this the relief valve
port is plugged, so therefore the full pressure is actually applied to the load, the pilot port is
plugged and this cylinder is moving this way, right. So, this is the extension stroke what happens
in the next stroke.

(Refer Slide Time: 17:36)

In the next stroke, now we have a retraction stroke, so what happens is, when it reaches the end,
it operates this limit switch at the end, at the extreme end of the extension stroke, that limit
switch is actually connected to the solenoid in such a way that immediately when the limit switch
is made or switched on this solenoid is put off. So, when the solenoid is put off this directional
valve assumes the right position, so what is happening in the right position.

(Refer Slide Time: 18:19)

In the right position the pump flow goes like this, so now you see, what is the matter here, so in
the right position the pump flow goes like this and enters what is known as the rod end of the
cylinder, so the, now the cylinder moves towards the right, note that the cam is still not operated,
so therefore this is still plugged and this is also still plugged and the full pressure is being
operated, being applied to the cylinder.

(Refer Slide Time: 19:00)

Alright, so the next case, in the next case a very interesting thing happens at the end of the
retraction stroke, that is something special about this circuit, so at the end of the retraction stroke,
when it comes fully to right, this rod is designed in such a manner that it pushes the cam, so
when it pushes the cam this valve now connects in the top position as we said, so in the top
position what is happening, in the top position, this is the pump and this is the tank, so you see
that this point is very close to tank pressure.

So, now the pilot port of this relief valve is actually connected, this is free flow the direction of
the check valve goes through this and come to this point, so the positions of the pilot port
pressure which is being applied is very close to this, which is in turn very close to this, so the
pilot port is now connected nearly to tank, which means that this relief valve will now vent. So,
at the end of the retraction cycle the tank directly vent, rather the pump directly vents to tank.

So, the power required by the tank, by the pump is very low, so at the end of the retraction cycle,
while it is waiting this pump does not unnecessarily spend power, so it vents automatically the
circuit is made in such a manner.

(Refer Slide Time: 20:37)

Next what happens, how do you start a new cycle, so you start a new cycle like this, a new cycle
is actually started by pressing a push button, so this coil is, has to be connected in such an
electrical circuit, such that it can be switched off by this limit switch, as we have seen at the
extent, at the end of the extension cycle and it can be switched on by a push-button, so every
time you want to start one extension retraction motion, you need to switch on this solenoid.

(Refer Slide Time: 21:21)

So, when you, when you switch it on again this shifts to the left, right, now it is cam is made, so
this is in this position and this is in this position, so now what is happening again this connected
to pump, this is pump now, this is connected to pump. So now what, but unfortunately, so now it
tries to flow like this, but this is, this pressure is now, so now you see again this port is actually
so this so the opposing force on the check valve is the full pump pressure.

So, therefore, the pilot pressure, if this valve has to vent then the pilot pressure has to cross this
level, otherwise they cannot be the flow, so therefore, this full pump pressure can be applied to
the hydraulic cylinder and start to move left, the moment it will start to move left, this cam will
be released and when the cam is released it will shift to the lower position and again the vent port
of this valve is going to get plugged and the cycle repeats.

So, this is the way that, this is a conventional reciprocation circuit, only feature that has been
added is that, at the end of a retraction, one full extension under full power, retraction under full
power and then at the end, when you will reach the end of the retraction cycle the pump is
unloaded basically to save power.

(Refer Slide Time: 23:05)

So, let us look at the next example, now we want to, we want to do some special things that is we
want to save, sometimes it happens as I said that in the during the extension stroke, you are
actually pushing hard against a load, so you want to do it slowly. While the retraction stroke is
free, so you want to do it rapidly because you want to spend, you want to save time of the
operation right. So, let us see how we can do that.

(Refer Slide Time: 23:40)

So, what we are seeing here, you see, again let us identify components pump, motor, relief valve,
this is tank and filter, this is a three-position solenoid, electrical solenoid actuated spring-loaded
valve, okay. So, and this is a flow control valve and this is a, again a mechanically, so
mechanically operated valve with a property that, if you operate the switch, if you operate the
switch, as long as you do not operate the switch then this is a direct shot, that is this line is open.

If you operate the switch this line gets closed and this switch is mechanically operated by the end
of the rod, right. So, you see what is happening here the first what is happening is initially again
when neither of the solenoids are operated then it is centered, so nothing, no flow, pump gets
directly to tank. Next you operate it, let us say you operate the left cylinder, so if you operate the
left cylinder then pump, okay, first let us look at the advanced circuit which is the right cylinder,
so if you connect it then port A gets connected to pump.

So, the fluid flows when this coil is energized, so this is for extension and this is for retraction.
So, during the extension, when this is applied then fluid flows into this end, it comes out of this
end and since the cam is not operated, so therefore this is a shot, so it returns directly goes
through this goes through this returns, so there is hardly any resistance direct shot, so this starts
advancing very fast that is called the rapid advance.

Rapid advance then after a certain distance, this touches this and pushes it, so therefore during
that time this operates and this is closed off, it cannot pass through this, this is the check valve,
no flow along this, so now the fluid is forced to flow along this, should use a different color, so
during the forward stroke the fluid is forced to flow along the green line, and since this is a flow
control valve, so there is our only a certain amount of flow possible not more than that so the
flow is controlled.

Because we expect load here, so again for power requirements we need to reduce speed, so we
are doing that by using flow control.

(Refer Slide Time: 27:29)

Now what happens, when we want to have retraction when we want to have retraction then we
will operate this solenoid, when we will operate this solenoid then what happens is now the, let
me choose a different color for the blue one, so during retraction, now this line B is connected to
pump so how does it flow, so it flows through this path and this path and this now it flows to the
check valve, this is the free direction, this is still off, this still may, which means that this line is
off.

But that does not matter because this side check valve is free flow, so it goes through this and it
enters the rod end. So, the retraction and from cap end it comes straight and it will go to the tank.
So, during retraction all the way because of this check valve, fluid will always flow through this
and it will have a free flow path and there will be, the flow rate is going to be high that does not
matter because the load is not connected, pressure requirements are low and the pump can, with
the pump flow you can very well managed right. So, this is what is happening and you can obtain
a rapid retraction.