Sunil Maher, senior project delivery lead, the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) reflects on a recent project which engineered a more efficient solution for off-highway vehicle hydraulics.
In 2018, APC awarded a £10.9m government grant to the *DDISPLACE project, which was originally led by Artemis Intelligent Power, the Edinburgh based hydraulic machine specialist acquired by Danfoss Power Solutions in 2021. The project set out to address off-highway energy consumption challenges by fundamentally rethinking hydraulic system design, resulting in the launch of Danfoss’ Digital Displacement pump for excavator systems.
This market-disrupting technology is a reinvention of how hydraulic fluid power can be controlled by enabling maximum operating efficiency in the high-force, multi-axis movements of heavy machinery, whether powered by diesel, electricity, or other alternative energy sources. The innovative hydraulic architecture combines rugged mechanics with electronics and embedded software and allows energy to be recovered and re-used, dramatically reducing energy loss. In its current form, the Swap Digital Displacement Pump is expected to save 15 per cent of total energy consumption, and future energy recovery architectures within the recently launched Dextreme range could further reduce consumption by up to 50 per cent.
Danfoss’ pioneering solution is set to play a key role in enabling and accelerating electrification of off-highway vehicles. There are many benefits to this solution, as you improve energy efficiency you can reduce battery capacity, which will lower total cost and increase the runtime of heavy-duty vehicles. Danfoss estimates that by the start of the next decade this technology could potentially reduce the lifetime CO2 emissions of the global excavator fleet by up to 80 Megatonnes (Mt), roughly the same as the entire annual CO2 emissions of Denmark and Scotland combined.
The primary focus of this project was productionising the technology. However, the project also became the catalyst for more investment, the expertise gained from the development of the technology led to Danfoss establishing a new £25m Low Carbon Innovation Centre near Edinburgh.
UK-based building materials supplier Ashcourt Group is now comparing the performance of its standard excavators with that of three excavators fitted with the Dextreme Swap system. This is the entry-level Dextreme configuration, which is still predicted to lower fuel consumption by 15 per cent. In this 12-month trial, they will thoroughly test the system on three 20-tonne diesel-powered Volvo EC200E excavators, with each machine forecast to complete 2,000 operating hours. To compare the operating data each excavator has been fitted with data logging equipment.
Danfoss Power Solutions completed the DDISPLACE project in collaboration with hydraulic system specialists Robbie Fluid Engineering and cast machining experts John Hyde Engineering. The funding provided also enabled the engagement of four PhD students whose research provided a deeper understanding and problem resolution of the noise, vibration, harshness (NVH) aspects of system application, enhancing the energy recovery capabilities of the Dextreme Max system.
The DDISPLACE project demonstrates that with the right support, the UK is an amazing location for innovation, delivering jobs, inward investment and further strengthening our commitment to a net-zero future.
Sunil Maher, senior project delivery lead, the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC)
*DDISPLACE Project Consortium: Danfoss Scotland Ltd (Lead partner), Robbie Fluid Engineering Ltd, andJohn Hyde Engineering Ltd
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