At the technology evening of 22 January, Dewald Smit from Festo presented on the choice: ‘Pneumatic vs Electric Automation Energy Efficiency’.
Ann DeBeer (right) thanks Dewalt Smit for the presentation.
In these tough economic times, all of us would like to save money in our factories. In making the decision between pneumatic and electric actuators, there are some key questions to ask like: Are there more tasks than clamping and holding? Are there long strokes, high speed and shorter cycle times required? Is smooth motion required? If all the answers to the above questions are no, use pneumatic, if one answer is yes, use electric drives.
Both technologies have their strengths and weaknesses. Pneumatic is easy to install and cost efficient, yet there could be energy losses from leakages that cost money. Electric, on the other hand, requires higher initial investment, but is load dependent when it comes to use of energy, so a saving in the long run is possible.
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