Energy Saving Characteristics of a Winch System Driven by a Four-Quadrant Hydraulic Pump

In this study, an integrated system of winch driving and potential energy recovery using a four-quadrant pump was proposed, aimed at the large amount of recoverable gravitational potential energy in a winch system. The proposed system changed the original open system into a closed-structure part, using a four-quadrant pump to drive the winch, and an open-structure part, using an open hydraulic pump to balance torque. The closed-structure and open-structure parts were coaxial, and connected with the engine through the transfer case, which was able to make full use of the four-quadrant pump characteristics. It was able to achieve flow regeneration when the weight was lowered, and to achieve direct use of gravitational potential energy. The AMESim model of the original and proposed systems was further established according to a working characteristics analysis of the energy consumption of the winch-driving system. The simulation results verified that the proposed system kept good controllability while recovering potential energy. An experimental prototype was built; the test results showed that, compared with the original winch system, the proposed system increased lifting speed and reduced fuel consumption significantly. Additionally, diesel consumption was reduced by 87% in the descending process.