Electro-Hydraulic Flow Valve with Pilot Sensing and Low Pressure Loss
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hydraulic flow control systems face challenges with low precision flow control due to high throttling loss, limited through-flow capacity, and lack of real-time flow detection, leading to inefficiencies and safety issues, especially in heavy equipment applications.
Innovation Solution
A multifunctional electro-hydraulic flow control valve system that incorporates a small flow sensor with fast dynamic response, amplifying pilot-stage flow for high-precision control of the main valve, along with data analysis and fault diagnosis capabilities, eliminating the need for pressure compensators and enabling real-time monitoring and cloud storage of system data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pressure compensator is arranged in a main runner of a proportional throttle valve to maintain constant pressure difference, then load changes are compensated, but throttling loss is increased and through-flow capacity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The valve is divided into a main valve and a pilot valve, where the pilot valve controls the main valve. This segmentation allows the pilot valve to regulate flow with minimal pressure loss while the main valve provides the necessary flow capacity, resolving the contradiction between load compensation and energy loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The pilot valve acts as an intermediary that controls the main valve's opening through hydraulic pressure. This indirect control mechanism enables precise flow regulation without requiring the main valve to undergo frequent small adjustments that cause throttling losses.
2Measurement precision
If a flow sensor is connected in series in a pipeline for flow measurement, then flow detection is achieved, but pressure loss is increased and system cost is high
Solution Approach 1:
The pilot valve serves multiple functions: it acts as both a flow control element and a flow measurement point. By measuring the pilot valve's opening position and control pressure, the system obtains flow information without adding a separate in-line flow sensor, thus avoiding additional pressure loss and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of directly measuring main flow with an expensive in-line sensor, the system uses the pilot valve's controlled flow as a representative sample. The pilot valve's parameters are used to infer the main flow characteristics, providing an indirect but accurate measurement method that avoids the drawbacks of direct in-line sensing.
3Device complexity
If existing electro-hydraulic proportional valves are used without self-learning capability, then simple control is achieved, but intelligent degree is low and predictive maintenance is not possible
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates sensors that continuously monitor flow, pressure, and valve position, feeding this data back to a controller. The controller compares actual performance with desired performance and automatically adjusts parameters, enabling adaptive control without significantly increasing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The electro-hydraulic system performs self-diagnosis and self-adjustment by monitoring its own operational parameters. The controller detects anomalies in flow patterns or pressure variations and automatically compensates or alerts operators, enabling the system to maintain optimal performance without external intervention.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows for continuous, high-precision flow control with low pressure loss, real-time monitoring, and predictive maintenance, enhancing energy efficiency and safety by integrating flow detection and control, reducing resource waste, and preventing system failures.
Implementation Method 1
a flow sensor... can dynamically detect the flow with high precision
Implementation Method 2
amplifying the pilot-stage flow by the main valve... realizing high-precision control and detection of a flow of a main valve with low pressure loss
Implementation Method 3
a pressure compensator is arranged in a main runner of a proportional throttle valve, a pressure difference between two ends of an oil inlet and an oil outlet of the valve is maintained to be basically constant
Data Source
AI summary
A multifunctional electro-hydraulic flow control valve and a flow control method. The control valve comprises a main valve, a proportional pilot valve, a flow sensor, a multifunctional valve controller, a control cavity pressure sensor, an oil inlet pressure sensor, an oil outlet pressure sensor, a temperature sensor and a cloud storage. The invention has the characteristics that a flow of the main valve is continuously controlled without being influenced by load change without installing a pressure compensator in the system, and meanwhile, the valve has the function of a flow sensor, has low pressure loss and wide flow control range, and realizes integration of flow detection and control; and information such as flow, power and efficiency of each part in a hydraulic system is monitored in real time based on a multifunctional controller, key operation state monitoring, service life prediction and fault positioning of the control valve are achieved.