Analysis of Power Matching on Energy Savings of a Pneumatic Rotary Actuator Servo-Control System

Abstract When saving energy in a pneumatic system, the problem of energy losses is usually solved by reducing the air supply pressure. The power-matching method is applied to optimize the air-supply pressure of the pneumatic system, and the energy-saving effect is verified by experiments. First, the experimental platform of a pneumatic rotary actuator servo-control system is built, and the mechanism of the valve-controlled cylinder system is analyzed. Then, the output power characteristics and load characteristics of the system are derived, and their characteristic curves are drawn. The employed air compressor is considered as a constant-pressure source of a quantitative pump, and the power characteristic of the system is matched. The power source characteristic curve should envelope the output characteristic curve and load characteristic curve. The minimum gas supply pressure obtained by power matching represents the optimal gas supply pressure. The comparative experiments under two different gas supply pressure conditions show that the system under the optimal gas supply pressure can greatly reduce energy losses.