Global harsh condition liquid-to-electric upgrade solution | Record of equipment renovation for Johnson Controls servo electric cylinders in high and low temperatures, as well as in the presence of dust and corrosion
Preface：
The regional environment of heavy industry in our country varies greatly. In the north and west, industrial and mining enterprises have been enduring temperatures of 150°C during smelting, extremely low temperatures of minus 20 to 30 degrees Celsius, thick coal dust, and severe oil contamination for years. Coastal areas in southern China are exposed to high humidity and salt fog erosion. In the southwest, mines are subject to mud flushing and significant temperature fluctuations between day and night. In the central region, chemical workshops experience corrosion from acid and alkali gases. For a long time, a large number of equipment in industries such as metallurgy, coal, heavy machine processing, ports, and chemicals have relied on hydraulic drive. However, traditional hydraulic systems have significant shortcomings in extremely harsh working conditions: oil leakage and fire due to high temperatures, thick oil that becomes sticky and gets stuck due to low temperatures, large deviations in multi-cylinder synchronization, frequent sealing losses, high maintenance material costs, and oil pollution of the production site, which seriously restrict the stability of equipment and the green and intelligent upgrading of enterprises.
With the explosive demand for intelligent manufacturing and energy-saving renovations, servo electric cylinders, thanks to their fully electric closed-loop control, oil-free cleanliness, wide temperature range adaptability, low maintenance requirements, and high precision, have become the core solution for replacing and upgrading old hydraulic equipment.
Suzhou Jiangshentai Automation Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2014. It focuses on the research and production of non-standard servo electric cylinders. Its product line includes standard servo electric cylinders, heavy-duty high-torque electric cylinders, high-temperature special electric cylinders, low-temperature weather-resistant electric cylinders, IP68 waterproof and anti-corrosion electric cylinders, explosion-proof electric cylinders, and non-standard customized electric cylinders. It can provide one-stop customized "liquid-to-electric" transformation services for various regional and harsh working conditions across the country.
The company has launched two benchmark transformation projects in the North China region, successfully overcoming two typical and harsh working conditions - high-temperature in steelmaking and extreme cold in sawing and drilling machines. At the same time, the product technology can be replicated and adapted to extreme production environments in multiple regions and industries across the country, providing mature and reliable electric cylinder transformation solutions for various heavy industry enterprises.
01 Operation of the steel-making furnace door lifting: Synchronous control modification in a high-temperature environment
The lifting mechanism of the furnace door in the steel-making workshop of this enterprise originally used a hydraulic cylinder system, which was driven by two hydraulic cylinders to lift and lower the furnace door simultaneously. The working temperature on site was approximately 150℃, which was a typical high-temperature application environment.
The main problems of the original hydraulic system are as follows:
1.The synchronization accuracy of the two oil cylinders is insufficient. During operation, the furnace door is prone to deviate, which affects the stability of the equipment operation.
2.In high-temperature environments, the risk of hydraulic oil leakage increases, which poses potential problems for equipment maintenance and safety.
In response to the on-site requirements, Jiangshentai offers customized retrofit solutions for electric cylinders:
Using high-temperature-resistant servo electric cylinders, along with high-temperature-resistant motors, high-temperature-resistant cables and high-temperature-resistant switches, the system can adapt to a working environment of 150℃. By replacing the original hydraulic cylinders with two servo electric cylinders and combining with servo closed-loop control, the furnace door can be made to rise and fall synchronously.
After the renovation, the equipment operated stably in a high-temperature environment, the synchronous control effect met the process requirements, and the problem of oil leakage in the hydraulic system was eliminated. Compared with the traditional hydraulic solution, the electric cylinder structure is more compact, occupies less installation space, and has a simpler maintenance process.
02 Sawing drilling machine renovation: Improves operational stability in low-temperature environments
The company's sawing drilling machine originally used a hydraulic system for power transmission, and the main problems occurred during the operation in winter at low temperatures.
In the cold winter environment of North China, the viscosity of hydraulic oil increases, resulting in a decrease in system response speed. This is manifested as insufficient feed speed, pressure fluctuations, and other issues, which affect processing efficiency and stability. At the same time, there are problems such as oil leakage in the hydraulic system, replacement of hydraulic oil, and maintenance of sealing components, which increase the maintenance cost of the equipment.
For this equipment's operating conditions, Jiangshentai replaced the original hydraulic actuator with a servo electric cylinder that is suitable for low-temperature environments, and optimized the material selection and sealing structure.
After the renovation, the equipment operates stably in low-temperature conditions in winter, and its speed control and output performance meet the processing requirements. Since the electric cylinder does not require hydraulic oil, it can avoid the leakage of the oil which may affect the production environment, and at the same time reduce the maintenance items related to the hydraulic system.
03 From Hydraulic to Electric: Why "Switching from Hydraulic to Electric" Becomes the Inevitable Choice for Harsh Conditions?
Based on the above cases, the shortcomings of traditional hydraulic systems under harsh conditions can be summarized into four points:
1.Environmentally sensitive - The viscosity of hydraulic oil changes drastically with temperature. High temperatures cause it to thin out, resulting in internal leakage pressure drop. Low temperatures cause it to thicken, leading to difficulties in startup and sluggish response, which seriously affects the stable operation of the equipment throughout the year.
2.Leakage and Safety - The sealing components will deteriorate rapidly under extreme temperatures, resulting in inevitable oil leakage. In environments with high dust levels such as metallurgy and mining, it is prone to cause fires.
3.The control accuracy is limited - the hydraulic system is subject to multiple variable disturbances such as temperature and load, and the multi-cylinder synchronization control is complex, making it difficult to ensure the accuracy.
4.High maintenance costs - hydraulic oil, filters, and seals need to be replaced regularly. The cost of a single oil change can range from several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan. Additionally, the disposal of used oil in the later stage adds to the burden of long-term operation.
Servo electric cylinders have fundamentally solved the aforementioned problems: The fully electric closed-loop control ensures accuracy is not affected by temperature, and multi-cylinder synchronization is simple, reliable; No hydraulic oil is required, zero leakage, eliminating fire hazards and environmental pollution; They are compatible with a conventional wide temperature range of -45℃ to +120℃ (special expansion for extreme conditions is possible); The structure is compact, with few moving parts, significantly reducing maintenance frequency and overall costs.
04 Adapted for complex working conditions: Technical characteristics of Jiangzongte servo electric cylinder
The two cases mentioned above respectively involve high-temperature (150℃) and low-temperature environments. For different industrial application scenarios, the Jensen Special servo electric cylinder mainly has the following technical features:
1、Protection level
For special environments such as dust and humidity, Jiangshentai can offer protection solutions of IP65, IP67 and IP68 grades.
The IP68-rated product achieves enhanced dust and water resistance through a multi-layer sealing structure design, enabling it to meet the long-term operation requirements in complex environments.
2、Material and Anti-corrosion Properties
The cylinder body is made of high-strength aluminum alloy. The push rod is selected as stainless steel or high-alloy steel according to the working conditions.
For corrosive environments, surface anti-corrosion treatment can be adopted to enhance the corrosion resistance, meeting the requirements for special industrial applications.
3、Control accuracy
The repeatability positioning accuracy of the Jiangshent Servo Electric Cylinder can reach ±0.005mm at its maximum.
Compared with the hydraulic system which experiences control accuracy fluctuations due to changes in oil temperature, the servo electric cylinder, through closed-loop control, can achieve stable control of position, speed and thrust. It is more suitable for automated equipment with high requirements for motion accuracy.
4、Thrust and Service Life
The maximum thrust of Jiangshentong electric cylinders can reach up to 500 tons, and their structure can be designed according to the load requirements.
The standard model product can be reused for over 5 million times. Under reasonable working conditions, it has the ability to operate stably for a long time.
5、Customization capability
Jiangshentai was established in 2014. It integrates R&D, production, sales and technical services. It can design the structure of electric cylinders, match parameters and optimize and upgrade the system according to the requirements of equipment processes.
For different application environments such as high temperature, low temperature, high load, dust-proof, waterproof, etc., Jiangzongte has rich experience in converting hydraulic cylinders to electric cylinders. It provides customized services across the regions of North China, Northwest China, South China, Southwest China, East China, and Central China, and is suitable for complex and harsh working conditions in various industries including metallurgy, mining, ports, chemical industry, new energy, and heavy machinery.
If there are requirements for modification in terms of high temperature, low temperature, high dust, salt spray corrosion, heavy load and high precision, please contact us through the official channels to obtain free on-site survey and customized solutions.
