The Reasons Causing Accidents of Air Oil Coolers in Construction Machinery
hydraulic oil cooler with ac motor
Air oil coolers are equipments used in order to cool gear drives, fluid power systems, hydraulic presses and torque converters among others. It uses the air cooling method for dissipating heat. With this method, the surface area or the increasing air flow of the object that’s being cooled is expanded. In order to remove the heat, the air around the object or the surface of the object itself is being cooled.
Applications and Advantages of Air Oil Coolers or Hydraulic Coolers
Air cooling is applied in electronics, vehicles, turbines and other industry processes either directly or indirectly. Air oil coolers as well as hydraulic coolers are important construction machineries that are used in diverse applications. With their capability of removing excess heat, they can prevent hydraulic systems and from getting damaged due to extreme heat.
This makes coolers important for maintaining cost – effective operation as they are capable of providing a number of benefits in performance, economy and environment. These benefits include the capability to maintain the oil’s correct temperature, making sure the mechanical components are lubricated properly and that the hydraulic device is running at its maximum efficiency.
By keeping the temperature down, it is also able to help in keeping the oil and the machine components to last longer. The fact is excess heat degrades hydraulic oil, can form varnishes that harm the component surfaces and also quicken the deterioration of elastomeric and rubber seals. These are only some of the benefits of an air oil coolers or hydraulic coolers making them really important in the construction machinery industry.
Air Oil Cooler Accidents – Why and How to Prevent it
Surely you have heard about accidents involving air oil coolers, right? Accidents normally happen but that doesn’t mean that there’s no way for you to avoid it. In the case of air oil coolers, you can avoid accidents by being aware of the warning signs that your air cooler has finally had enough. That’s right, like everything else even air coolers has its limit and being able to see when your air oil cooler reached its limit, that’s how you will be able to prevent accidents.
- Welding Problems
One of the common reasons for air oil cooler accidents is welding problems. If the air cooler has not been properly welded or has sustained welding problems after years of use, then it could lead to other problems that decrease the performance of your air oil cooler which could end up soon in an accident. In that case, it is important that when doing an inspection you always check if there are welding problems with your air oil cooler.
- Corrosion
Corrosion is something that happens to air oil cooler after a while of use. Time and corrosion will eventually kill your air oil cooler and that’s not really something that you can prevent. Corrosion may have been due to leaking air oil cooler. Corrosion is not preventable but this can be slowed by periodically cleaning the cooler’s exterior. This way, you can even possibly extend the cooler’s life to a certain degree.
- Operation
Another that might be the reason of air oil cooler accident is the operation, that is, if it has not been properly used. One of the un-repairable damage to air oil cooler that can just be the cause of an accident is over pressurization which could be caused by proper use of the cooler. If you operate the engine when it’s under cold climate conditions without having pre-heated the engine and the cooler first, it will end up to over pressurization and possibly to accident.
- Cleaning
Improper cleaning can also lead to damages to the air cooler and then to accidents. If you have not properly cleaned and maintained the cooler, it could result to corrosion, rust and other small damages that when accumulated could result to something more serious. This makes it extremely important that you can take time of properly maintaining the air oil cooler. Just like in any other machine or device, regular maintenance gives it longer time table. At the same time, it allows you to check if there’s any possible problem before it becomes too late.
- Oxygen Explosion
There is also a possibility of oxygen explosion with air oil coolers. There are certain types of air oil coolers equipped with an integral thermostatic valve for controlling the oil. This is labeled with IN and OUT which indicates the direction the oil flows through. If the line connections of the oil are reversed it can lead to burst instantly upon engine start-up. This could also be problem caused by improper operation which may lead to dangerous oxygen explosion.
These are the most common damages to air oil coolers that could be reason behind air oil cooler accidents. By knowing these, you can have a way of preventing accidents to happen and ensure that your air oil cooler will work for much longer time.
