A pump is a device that moves fluids, or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy.
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft via a piston rod and/or connecting rod. In a pump, the function is reversed and force is transferred from the crankshaft to the piston for the purpose of compressing or ejecting the fluid in the cylinder. In some engines, the piston also acts as a valve by covering and uncovering ports in the cylinder.
A Fuel pump is a component used in many liquid-fuelled engines to transfer the fuel from the fuel tank to the device where it is mixed with the intake air.
Fluid power is the use of fluids under pressure to generate, control, and transmit power. Fluid power is conventionally subdivided into hydraulics and pneumatics. Although steam is also a fluid, steam power is usually classified separately from fluid power. Compressed-air and water-pressure systems were once used to transmit power from a central source to industrial users over extended geographic areas; fluid power systems today are usually within a single building or mobile machine.
Hydraulic machines use liquid fluid power to perform work. Heavy construction vehicles are a common example. In this type of machine, hydraulic fluid is pumped to various hydraulic motors and hydraulic cylinders throughout the machine and becomes pressurized according to the resistance present. The fluid is controlled directly or automatically by control valves and distributed through hoses, tubes, or pipes.
Common rail direct fuel injection is a direct fuel injection system built around a high-pressure fuel rail feeding solenoid valves, as opposed to a low-pressure fuel pump feeding unit injectors. High-pressure injection delivers power and fuel consumption benefits over earlier lower pressure fuel injection, by injecting fuel as a larger number of smaller droplets, giving a much higher ratio of surface area to volume. This provides improved vaporization from the surface of the fuel droplets, and so more efficient combining of atmospheric oxygen with vaporized fuel delivering more complete combustion.
A piston pump is a type of positive displacement pump where the high-pressure seal reciprocates with the piston. Piston pumps can be used to move liquids or compress gases. They can operate over a wide range of pressures. High pressure operation can be achieved without adversely affecting flow rate. Piston pumps can also deal with viscous media and media containing solid particles. This pump type functions through a piston cup, oscillation mechanism where down-strokes cause pressure differentials, filling of pump chambers, where up-stroke forces the pump fluid out for use. Piston pumps are often used in scenarios requiring high, consistent pressure and in water irrigation or delivery systems.
A hydraulic cylinder is a mechanical actuator that is used to give a unidirectional force through a unidirectional stroke. It has many applications, notably in construction equipment, manufacturing machinery, elevators, and civil engineering. A hydraulic cylinder is a hydraulic actuator that provides linear motion when hydraulic energy is converted into mechanical movement. It can be likened to a muscle in that, when the hydraulic system of a machine is activated, the cylinder is responsible for providing the motion.
Pneumatic cylinder, also known as air cylinder, is a mechanical device which uses the power of compressed gas to produce a force in a reciprocating linear motion.
An axial piston pump is a positive displacement pump that has a number of pistons in a circular array within a cylinder block.
A hydraulic motor is a mechanical actuator that converts hydraulic pressure and flow into torque and angular displacement (rotation). The hydraulic motor is the rotary counterpart of the hydraulic cylinder as a linear actuator. Most broadly, the category of devices called hydraulic motors has sometimes included those that run on hydropower but in today's terminology the name usually refers more specifically to motors that use hydraulic fluid as part of closed hydraulic circuits in modern hydraulic machinery.
Artificial lift is the use of artificial means to increase the flow of liquids, such as crude oil or water, from a production well. Generally this is achieved by the use of a mechanical device inside the well or by decreasing the weight of the hydrostatic column by injecting gas into the liquid some distance down the well. A newer method called Continuous Belt Transportation (CBT) uses an oil absorbing belt to extract from marginal and idle wells. Artificial lift is needed in wells when there is insufficient pressure in the reservoir to lift the produced fluids to the surface, but often used in naturally flowing wells to increase the flow rate above what would flow naturally. The produced fluid can be oil, water or a mix of oil and water, typically mixed with some amount of gas.
A hydraulic pump is a mechanical source of power that converts mechanical power into hydraulic energy. Hydraulic pumps are used in hydraulic drive systems and can be hydrostatic or hydrodynamic. They generate flow with enough power to overcome pressure induced by a load at the pump outlet. When a hydraulic pump operates, it creates a vacuum at the pump inlet, which forces liquid from the reservoir into the inlet line to the pump and by mechanical action delivers this liquid to the pump outlet and forces it into the hydraulic system. Hydrostatic pumps are positive displacement pumps while hydrodynamic pumps can be fixed displacement pumps, in which the displacement cannot be adjusted, or variable displacement pumps, which have a more complicated construction that allows the displacement to be adjusted. Hydrodynamic pumps are more frequent in day-to-day life. Hydrostatic pumps of various types all work on the principle of Pascal's law.
A plunger pump is a type of positive displacement pump where the high-pressure seal is stationary and a smooth cylindrical plunger slides through the seal. This makes them different from piston pumps and allows them to be used at higher pressures. This type of pump is often used to transfer municipal and industrial sewage.
A reciprocating pump is a class of positive-displacement pumps that includes the piston pump, plunger pump, and diaphragm pump. Well maintained, reciprocating pumps can last for decades. Unmaintained, however, they can succumb to wear and tear. It is often used where a relatively small quantity of liquid is to be handled and where delivery pressure is quite large. In reciprocating pumps, the chamber that traps the liquid is a stationary cylinder that contains a piston or plunger.
Telescopic cylinders are a special design of a hydraulic cylinder or pneumatic cylinder as well as pulley system which provide an exceptionally long output travel from a very compact retracted length. Typically the collapsed length of a telescopic cylinder is 20 to 40% of the fully extended length depending on the number of stages. Some pneumatic telescoping units are manufactured with retracted lengths of under 15% of overall extended unit length. This feature is very attractive to machine design engineers when a conventional single stage rod style actuator will not fit in an application to produce the required output stroke.
Internal combustion engines come in a wide variety of types, but have certain family resemblances, and thus share many common types of components.
High-density solids pumps are hydrostatically operating machines which displace the medium being pumped and thus create a flow.
A booster pump is a machine which increases the pressure of a fluid. It may be used with liquids or gases, and the construction details vary depending on the fluid. A gas booster is similar to a gas compressor, but generally a simpler mechanism which often has only a single stage of compression, and is used to increase pressure of a gas already above ambient pressure. Two-stage boosters are also made. Boosters may be used for increasing gas pressure, transferring high pressure gas, charging gas cylinders and scavenging.
A media dispenser or a culture media dispenser is a device for repeatedly delivering small fixed volumes of liquid such as a laboratory growth medium like molten agar or caustic or volatile solvents like toluene into a series of receptacles. It is often important that such dispensers operate without biological or chemical contamination, and so must be internally sealed from the environment and designed for easy cleaning and sterilization before use. At a minimum, a media dispenser consists of some kind of pump connected to a length of discharge tubing or a spout. Dispensers used in laboratories are also frequently connected to microcontrollers to regulate the speed and volume of the medium as it leaves the pump.
