With decarbonisation ever higher on the agenda, there is growing interest in technologies which can reduce the environmental impact of forestry machinery. One Scottish firm is promoting a digital hydraulic pump which it believes can have a big impact on the forestry sector.
WITH long, hard duty cycles and power-hungry machines, the forestry sector is difficult to decarbonise. Logging sites are often miles from the nearest road and there is no simple route to fully electrify the industry.
However, the forestry machines of tomorrow may consume less than half the energy used today – thanks to a technology being commercialised in the UK.
Last year, engineering multinational Danfoss secured £11 million from the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK to develop a new generation of ‘Digital Displacement’ hydraulic pumps and motors to be used in off-road vehicles. Since then, Danfoss has established an HQ near Edinburgh with full R&D and manufacturing capability.
And it believes its hydraulic technology is a natural fit for the forestry sector. Earlier this year, it took a stand at Forestry Expo Scotland, where Craig Grant, sales development manager (Europe), spoke with people in the industry.
“Decarbonisation is certainly an issue for the sector but there are no easy answers,” Craig said. “However, a radical rethink on hydraulics could have a big role to play.
“Hydraulics lie at the heart of forestry machines, yet most still rely on analogue pumps where – by our analysis – more than half of the work done by the engine is wasted as heat in the hydraulic system.
“At Danfoss, we are currently commercialising a digitally controlled multi-outlet tandem pump which is highly efficient and has the potential to radically change the way forestry machines work.”
The new pump is the latest iteration of Digital Displacement technology, utilising a radial piston machine which enables and disables cylinders in real time, using ultra-fast mechatronic valves controlled by an embedded computer.
Danfoss claims these intelligent digital controls mean a digitally enabled machine is highly controllable and efficient, as individual cylinders are only called into action as and when required.
Already, Danfoss is working closely with a number of off-highway equipment manufacturers to bring its technology to market.
Field trials have seen a conventional diesel-powered excavator compete with an identical excavator equipped with a straight-swap digital displacement pump, the latter delivering improved productivity with less fuel consumption.
“On its own, this would be a good start,” said Craig. “However, if we look ahead to a new generation of fully integrated machines – such as forwarders and handlers – then opportunities to rethink machine architectures could open up even greater improvements in efficiency, cost and control.
“For example, a digital pump can deliver maximum power almost instantaneously to wherever it is required – for example, a harvester head. This improves productivity and reduces peak power demand.
“Not only does this open the possibility of reduced engine size and up-front capex, it also plays well into industry 4.0 and predictive maintenance regimes.
“There is a big global market for forwarders and harvesters – many in the 200–300 kW range, where we think the combination of reduced consumption and improved control will play well.”
“Overall, we think digital displacement could be a win-win for forestry. It’s a British-built invention which offers reduced cost and emissions in the short term and a pathway to higher system efficiency in the years ahead.”
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