air/hydraulics - use the hydraulics to produce compressed air...

by jonathan
(alabama)

Is it possible to use the hydraulics on an excavator to produce compressed air to be used by an attachment on the excavator? If so, what would be involved and how many CFM could be produced?

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Bill says...

Jonathan, yes, you can use any energy source to product compressed air.

The issue that pops to the surface though is whether using a new energy source is cost effective, when the equipment to utilize that source is determined.

For example, when a company requires a smaller volume of higher pressure air for an application, they can use an intensifier cylinder to do so. The intensifier does what it says, converts the 100 PSI or so of shop air into 2-300 PSI of outflow air. Expensive, you bet! But less expensive than buying a high pressure compressor for a low flow.

How do you generate compressed air when using a hydraulic power source? Using a hydraulic cylinder to run an air cylinder would do that.

You do not provide any information about the compressed air driven equipment that you wish to run from the hydraulic source, so giving you specific advice is not possible.

You need to read the Sizing pages to get a sense of the size of air demand your equipment has.

Then, you also need to hire an engineer to design the equipment for you, if, in fact, you can generate the flow of air at the pressure you need using a hydraulic power source.

That, or hope that some enterprising individual has already done this, and is prepared to offer guidance for you here.

Cheers, and good luck.

Bill