A hydraulic intensifier is a device which is used to increase the intensity of pressure of any hydraulic fluid or water, with the help of the hydraulic energy available from a huge quantity of water or hydraulic fluid at a low pressure. These devices are very important in the case of hydraulic machines, mainly hydraulic presses, which require water or hydraulic fluid at very high pressure which cannot be obtained from the main supply directly.
Fig.: Hydraulic Intensifier
There are three main parts in the hydraulic intensifiers to be noted. They are
i. Fixed ram,
ii. Hollow inverted sliding cylinder,
iii. Fixed inverted cylinder.
A hydraulic intensifier consists of fixed ram through which the water, under a high pressure, flows to the hydraulic machine. A hollow inverted sliding cylinder, containing water under high pressure, is mounted over the fixed ram. The inverted sliding cylinder is surrounded by another inverted fixed cylinder which contains water from the main supply at a lower pressure.
A large quantity of water at a low pressure from the supply enters the inverted fixed cylinder. The weight of this water presses the sliding cylinder in the downward direction. The water inside the inverted sliding cylinder gets compressed due to the downward movement of the sliding cylinder and its pressure thus increases. This high pressure water is forced out of the sliding cylinder through the fixed ram, to the hydraulic machine.
