Danish engineering and powertrain experts Danfoss have developed a new digital hydraulic system designed specifically for electric construction equipment that can reduce energy consumption from the machine’s battery by 35% and improve runtime by more than 50%.
Danfoss started with a Develon DX300LC‑7 crawler excavator fitted with a Danfoss Editron EM-PMI375 drive motor, EC-C1200 inverter, and MC050 motor controller, along with three 140-kWh batteries to make it fully electric. The company then replaced the unit’s conventional swashplate hydraulic pump with a Danfoss-developed DDP180D pump motor to service the excavator’s boom, arm, bucket, and swing.
The new unit, instead of supplying constant power and pressure throughout the system, uses ten individually controllable outlets to provide hydraulic force only where it’s needed, allowing designers to effectively design for the machine’s average workload instead of its peak load. The end result is a massively more efficient machine that can do significantly more work with the same amount of energy.
“We are extremely encouraged by these results, but there is more work to do,” says Alasdair Robertson, senior director, Digital Displacement, Danfoss Power Solutions. “Further gains are possible, and we will continue optimizing the system to maximize the energy savings and value for our customers.”
Working Smarter, Not Harder
DDP180D pump motor, via Danfoss.
The electrification project was paid for, in part, with a grant from the UK’s Red Diesel Replacement Phase 2 Competition, a program designed to advance the development of lower emission alternatives to the red diesel used in the construction and mining industries.
Danfoss executives fully understand what their efficiency breakthrough, if they can scale it, will mean for the industries they serve. “Electric excavators offer excellent responsiveness, smooth control, a quiet cab environment and zero-emission operation,” added Robertson. “With Dextreme Max, they can also deliver the runtime, productivity and total cost of ownership advantages required for wider adoption, thereby accelerating the decarbonization of heavy-duty machinery.”
As more technology comes along to make electrifying heavy equipment easier, there’s no doubt that we’ll start to see more and more off-highway EV adoption.
Source: Danfoss
