A hydraulic press is a compression device that makes use of an exerted force placed upon a fluid, to create a resulting force according to Pascal’s Law. It was actually invented by Joseph Bramah, so is also known as the Bramah Press.
Pascal’s Law is a theory which states that the pressure (P) in a confined fluid, caused by a force (F1), over an area (A1), is transmitted undiminished, causing a force (F2), over the area (A2). This law can be applied to magnify a small force by the ratio of the areas to give a larger force – F2 = F1 (A2/A1).
In a hydraulic press, a modest mechanical force (F1) is applied to a small area (A1). As the fluid is moved in one location, it inevitably moves elsewhere within that channel. Then a larger area (A2) generates a magnified mechanical force (F2). The force is transmitted via hydraulic pressure generated by the initial effort, F1.
A hydraulic press can have many applications. Usually, a laboratory hydraulic press will be used to prepare samples for analysis by compressing them into pellets or thin films. The particles are forced together, creating a homogenous sample ideal for spectroscopic examination.
The Specac Manual Hydraulic Press is a classic example of the Bramah Press. The user applies pressure by hand, using a handle to pump pressure into the hydraulic fluid system. This pressure is transferred to a secondary area and the resulting force can be as great as 25 tons.
FTIR spectroscopy is an example of an analytical technique that uses samples prepared by a hydraulic press. KBr (potassium bromide) is often mixed with ground samples and compressed into pellets, which are then used for Infrared spectroscopic analysis. Suitable powder mixtures can also be compressed to form pellets in a similar way for determination of their compositional makeup.
Milled or finely ground, powdered samples are placed inside a ‘pellet die’. This is a durable container for the sample in which a die with sample is placed within the press. As the die is compressed within the hydraulic press, an internal plunger for the die assembly is forced against the contained sample within.
Other applications for hydraulic presses include pulling samples apart for tension testing, Sun Chemical have been using the same Manual Hydraulic Press of ours for over 30 years, doing just this.
At Specac we provide two types of powered (electric) hydraulic presses and two types of manual hydraulic presses. The manual presses available can be either full size or handheld. The electric presses come either with or without LED touchscreens and custom programmable loads.
The Mini-Pellet Press is a handheld, manual hydraulic press, which is ideal for pressing 7 mm KBr pellets for infrared spectroscopy. It is rugged and durable, https://specac.com/product/mini-pellet-press/like the larger manual press, but lighter and portable. It operates at two tons of load.
The Manual Hydraulic Press is a popular laboratory and industrial press as it is cost efficient, reliable, consistent and powerful. It operates at 15 or 25 tons of load, but can be converted to lower loads.
The Power Press is a rugged automatic hydraulic press, offering 8, 15 and 25 ton options with a low noise operation and microprocessor-controlled load and release.
The Autotouch Automatic Press is very similar to the Power Press, but more advanced. It has an LED touchscreen which can be used to program complex loads. It comes in 8, 15, 25 or 40 ton options.
We hope you have learnt something new about the hydraulic press!
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