Nitrogen Regulator Pressure Test Rigs For Hoses

In Formula One, every second counts. Time is precious in a sport where the difference between winning and losing is measured in fine margins. Those margins are made by engineers developing and performance testing components within race conditions.

Testing and analysing component data over time enables the team to make informed decisions about each car's set-up. For Krontec - a specialist manufacturer of high performance hoses supplied to Formula One - each and every hose needs to go through thorough testing to meet the critically high standards.

Krontec specified two custom made nitrogen regulated pressure test rigs, able to provide a helium or nitrogen gas supply to a test piece at the following pressures:

• Low pressure helium (up to 20 bar)
• Low pressure nitrogen (up to 20 bar)
• High Pressure nitrogen (up to 350 bar)

They also required a bunded tank for submerging test pieces, to carry out safe high-pressure gas leakage tests to a fixed pressure. All of the pressures needed to be finely adjusted for each test. For our design and build team, these two test rigs provided a challenge. Having custom-made a number of test rigs for component tests, these were the first rigs that required nitrogen gas and helium to be fed through the same system.

This meant that, first and foremost, safety had to be central. Therefore, we built two 316 stainless steel test rigs with a polycarbonate safety enclosure for viewing the test piece, as well as an automatic interlock to ensure a safe and controlled testing. To feed each test rig with nitrogen and helium, we specified a high quality pressure regulator fed through a 350 bar intensifier pump. Manual controls enabled the user to finely control the pressures throughout the test. The rising and falling pressures are accurately measured from our ISDS pressure sensors, with a measuring range of up to 400 bar, and are displayed with our three SEG1060 LED displays.

Capturing this data in real-time is our MultiHandy 3020 datalogging instrument, which can store files for further analysis. Using our HYDROcom6 software can enable this data to be shown graphically, through zoomed and expanded for reports / archives. These test rigs have benefited Krontec in many ways: one is that the test pieces can be heavily tested in a safe and controlled manner. Secondly, the customer can carry out a number of different tests: leak-testing, endurance, intermittent and burst testing, which they could not do without the test rigs.

As with all Hydrotechnik UK test rigs, we provide a complete turn-key solution, from concept to creation. Our customers get a complete technical brief, a custom-designed and built test rig to match their testing requirements, installation on-site, and software and hardware training. Discover our full range of testing rigs from pipes, pumps, hoses, valves, cylinders and many more components. Our test rigs are made by an experienced team, with over 25 years of accumulated knowledge and a deep understanding of testing flow, RPM, torque, temperature, pressure and vibration.

Call us today on 0115 900 3550 or email us: christopher.allwood@hydrotechnik.co.uk