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The heavy earth moving machineries (HEMM) like hydraulic excavator play a major role in construction and mining industries. In this context, the energy saving strategies in hydraulic excavator needs to be addressed considering its vital importance. Since the hydraulic excavators are subjected to heavy loads, hence the opportunity to harness the potential gravitational energy (GPE) remains a key area which can be effectively explored in order to minimize the energy consumption in consideration with hydraulic excavator. In the projected system, the potential energy is stored as pressure energy in hydro-pneumatic accumulator. The upward movement of the boom is executed with the help of prime mover during the starting of the first duty cycle. In the latter duty cycles, the stored pressurized energy is utilized together with the prime mover energy capable to execute the upward movement of the boom. The position of the boom cylinder is controlled by using the conventional PID controller using proportional flow control valve (PFCV) and accumulator. The error between the actual position and demand position of the linear actuator is minimized along with attainment of superior controlled performance while utilizing Model Predictive Controller (MPC). The pressurized accumulator with PFCV has been utilized to cater the different position demands. This has been also justified both experimentally and analytically with the error in the permissible range of 2%. It has been observed that the proposed system is 10% more efficient in contrast to the conventional system.

In this article, the focus is on the energy efficiency along with the position control of the linear actuator used in heavy earth moving equipment. It is quite evident that linear actuators are one of the critical machinery components used in the construction and mining activities like in booms of excavation equipment. The proposed work employed two different hydraulic circuits and a contrast has been carried out in terms of the energy efficiency. In one hydraulic circuit, the conventional proportional directional control valve (PDCV) is used for the position control. In another one, an innovative solution of using proportional flow control valve (PFCV) by creating artificial leakage between the two ends of the actuator is evaluated according to its energy efficiency. The extra flow coming from the pump during position control is by-passed by PFCV rather than the pressure relief valve in PDCV. This reduces the energy loss in the form of heat and increases the efficiency of the hydraulic circuit. The simulation of the hydraulic circuit is performed using MATLAB/Simulink and results are compared with the experiments and it is found that hydraulic circuit using PFCV is 8.5% more energy efficient than the conventional circuit using PDCV. The position control of the actuator is done using PID controller tuned by the fuzzy controller.