Metal bellows accumulator
Metal bellows accumulators are technically high-quality, new types of maintenance-free hydraulic accumulators .
In this design, the membrane is not made of an elastomer or plastic, but of a metal membrane.
There are two types of metal bellows accumulators:
- Membrane bellows accumulator (English: metal bellows) and
- Corrugated bellows
Metal bellows accumulators can be designed as corrugated bellows or as welded diaphragm bellows . The advantages are the highest gas tightness and therefore no maintenance at operating temperatures of up to 200 ° C or higher. Metal bellows accumulators are mainly used today in aviation, in pump construction and in large diesel engine construction. Like all hydraulic accumulators, however, metal bellows accumulators are also used in hydraulic systems, in process technology , in the oil and gas sector, and in mobile systems and devices.
Metal bellows accumulators are gas-filled pressure equipment and are subject, for example in Europe, to the Pressure Equipment Directive RL2014 / 68 / EG.
The two types of construction allow a wide range of uses and applications, such as
- Energy storage
- Shock absorption
- Leakage compensation
- Pulsation damping as a vibration damper on displacement pumps and motors
- Bridging the response time for pumps with variable delivery rates
- Media separation (liquid on both sides)
The metal bellows of the accumulator are usually designed by the manufacturer, since the deflection of the metal bellows determines the service life.