Pneumatic design 101: Go with the flow

The benefits of pneumatic power can be realized by following some basic pneumatic design rules for specifying air preparation units, actuators and valves.

Contributed by Chip McDaniel, Educational Specialist at AutomationDirect

Compressed air use by industrial machines is a close second to the use of electricity in terms of cost, and well ahead of other utilities such as water and natural gas in most plants and facilities. Electricity is less expensive per dollar of unit energy, but compressed air and pneumatics have other advantages encouraging their use.

This article will show why pneumatics is such a popular linear power option. Basic pneumatic valve selection will also be discussed—along with a primer on sizing pneumatic air preparation units, and selecting pneumatic valves and actuators.

Click here to read the entire story and get tips on how to best design your pneumatic system.