From Engines to Electrons: Designing Hydraulics for Electrification

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges and considerations for OEMs in transitioning from internal combustion engines to electrification, focusing on hydraulic efficiency.

In this episode of Fluid Power Forum, host Eric Lanke interviews Marcus Herrera, advanced systems application engineer at HYDAC, about the NFPA white paper, " Energy Efficiency Gains from Advanced Hydraulics ," and what OEMs should consider when replacing internal combustion engines with batteries or fuel cells. Herrera explains why electrification brings uncertainty around performance, charging infrastructure, supply chain maturity, cost, and market acceptance, and why hydraulic efficiency becomes more critical when onboard energy is fixed and recharge times are long. Using the paper's efficiency comparisons, he notes that improving hydraulic efficiency can have more than double the impact on usable energy in electrified machines, affecting shift length and battery size. They discuss major loss sources such as metering losses, strategies like proportional control, and how sensors, controls, and software enable user-assist automation that improves efficiency, safety, and productivity. Be sure to check out the full report here . Subscribe to the Fluid Power Forum today to never miss an episode. The podcast is available on all of your favorite podcast platforms, including Apple…

People in this episode

Host: Eric Lanke

Guest: Marcus Herrera

Topics covered

• hydraulics
• electrification
• energy efficiency
• internal combustion engines
• automation
• performance

Keywords

• hydraulics
• electrification
• energy efficiency
• OEMs
• performance
• automation
• battery
• fuel cells

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HYDAC, NFPA

Books & works: Energy Efficiency Gains from Advanced Hydraulics

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