Hydraulic System Component Integration

Each hydraulic system consist of hundreds of components,
built by dozens of manufacturers,
assembled by many construction companies,
commissioned by several groups,
and operated by the owner.

It is a very difficult task to assure that each vendor's component
is compatible with all the other components in the system
to meet the total flow and pressure needed to
reliably produce the work required.
~ Herky Veatch

The officers at Flow Products International, Herky Veatch and Dan Mrotz, have a combined 70 years of direct experience dealing with hydraulic challenges and have noticed one common denominator in many of the solutions. That being the challenge of properly integrating the individual hydraulic system components into a functioning whole system. Somewhere in the process, good and reputable components were assembled in such a way as to make them incompatible and the system does not perform to specification.

If Flow Products International is invited to examine the system and components during the planning, spec'ing, construction, flushing, passivating, maintenance, and engineering phases we can help you assure the integration of all components into a functioning and reliable hydraulic system upon commissioning. This experience and knowledge can be applied directly to the challenges of operating fluid power systems in rugged and hostile environments both onshore and offshore including sub-sea.

Sometimes difficult integration challenges have simple solutions if you have a reliable understanding of the underlying principles of hydraulics.

1. We start by comparing the total system work that needs to be done to the sum of all the potential energy available.

2. Then we identify every component that will draw energy from the system that converts fluid power into turbulence or heat and compute that value.

3. If the power left is less than the work required, we will help you evaluate how to remediate the system and make recommendations.

4. FPI will study all the tubing, hoses, valves, control devices, accumulators, relief valves, etc. to assure their characteristics and capabilities are compatible and work in harmony with all other components as to flow, pressure, and maintainability.

5. We will share this information with your electronics and instrumentation personnel and assist with the integration of remote sensing and control functions.

Today, more than anytime in the past, we are acquiring hydraulic assets manufactured in China and although they are good products, there are often real challenges in the integration of Chinese components with American, European, and Japanese hydraulic systems. The challenges are subtle, but they are real and can dramatically increase downtime if the integration of all components and fluid is not absolute.

FPI's extensive hands-on experience can often recognize these integration problems in short order and offer a good explanation of the understanding of the underlying cause of downtime. We can guide your engineers and workers to correct the integration challenges in the most efficient way with a minimum of downtime. If the challenge is beyond the capabilities of your maintenance staff, FPI can arrange a solution or offer quality control services to assure the third party vendor is effecting the proper solution.

At this point it would prudent for the client to examine the F.I.V.E. Program offered by FPI. This program is a comprehensive plan to build quality and reliability into the fluid power system for better performance with less downtime. This program is a hydraulic system management philosophy that offers a way to sustain the fluid power system throughout the life cycle with improved maintenance policies, sustained clean fluid, systematic inspections, and parts.

Please feel free to contact FPI if you should care to visit concerning hydraulic system challenges that may be affecting your operations. We have extensive experience in lowering operating costs and reducing downtime in hydraulic applications both domestic and abroad.