Power Curve Determination and Electrification of Powertrain System of Harvester Crane Swinging

Abstract

The work deals with the determination of the power curve for driving the swinging of the hydraulic crane of the harvester and the subsequent replacement of the hydraulic motor with an electric motor for the possibility of recuperating braking energy. For this purpose, the hydraulic circuit of the crane slewing gear was measured with flowmeters during its rotation between the angles –105° to +105°, –90° to +90° and –36° to +22°. The power was calculated from the measured values. The maximum power needed to swing the harvester crane was 9720 W. With this power, the torque reached 187.98 Nm. The average value of the power needed to swing the hydraulic crane was only 2472 W at a torque of 47.81 Nm. From these values, a synchronous electric motor with permanent magnets with a nominal speed of 2000 rpm (rotation per minute) and a power of 3246 W emerged as suitable for replacing the hydraulic motor. The use of an electric motor would, however, require a planetary gearbox with fast input speeds that would then be reduced to slow output speeds. The research results demonstrated the possibility of using an electric motor to swing the hydraulic crane during the work cycle of the harvester for the use of energy recovery from crane braking and thus the possibility of reducing fuel consumption and emissions.