How far has the hydraulics industry prepared for the stringent emission norms?
As of now, I would mention the preparedness of Danfoss Power Solutions, rather than the industry. Emission norms are already implemented in Europe and North America, and Danfoss has been providing solutions to these markets for a long time. Hence, Danfoss Power Solutions is fully prepared to offer hydraulic solutions in order to meet stringent emission norms globally. We have innovative systems like modulated fan drive which significantly contribute to reduce the emissions in engines and we have been very successful with such systems in Europe and North America.

What are the major solutions offered by Danfoss towards cost and energy-efficient hydraulics?
Though, at Danfoss we constantly are evolving products that have higher quality are environment friendly and cost effective, some recent additions to our product basket are as follows:
VSP: This is a steering unit developed for the price-sensitive market and is mostly targeted for the developing countries without any compromise on quality.

Eco Platform: This is a family of directional control valves catering to lower and mid HP requirements. They come with different actuations and have the flexibility of being standardised or customised as per the customer?s requirements.

Energy Efficient Hydraulics: Danfoss was the pioneer to offer proportional load sensing valves (PVG) with variable axle pistol pumps for energy-efficient hydraulics. Danfoss?s systems are being used worldwide by many customers on their various demanding mobile machines for over 20 years.

Also, Danfoss is now able to offer most recently developed concepts like Best Point Control and PVX Valves which can save energy up to 20-25 per cent.

How do you look at the electro-hydraulic solutions in the current market scenario?
Presently, the use of electro-hydraulic solutions in India on mobile machinery is not much; the reason is due to higher cost and acceptability by the customers. However, we have been seeing some trends of use of such technology in some niche markets like mining machines for export, automatic transmissions for heavy construction machines etc. We are hoping that in the coming years, adaptability of this technology would rapidly increase in India. Implementation of emission norms would also drive its usage.

What are the solutions to provide low noise, vibration and harshness in hydraulics?
We at Danfoss do understand the practical problems associated with high noise, vibration and harshness that can be stressful for the operator. All our standard hydraulic components have been designed to keep the noise and vibration at lower levels. However, in some demanding applications, we can further reduce the noise levels. For Example, we have developed low noise type steering units for applications in which steering unit is mounted inside the operator?s cabin. They make considerably lesser noise than the standard versions. Some of the OEMs we cater to, have benefited from this type of steering unit.

Danfoss can also offer modulated fan drive system, which regulates the speed of cooling fan depending upon the cooling demand in engine. This considerably reduces the average operating speed of fan. The speed of the fan is one of the highest noise generating component of a machine, thus this solution helps reduce the noise considerably.

What are the products and technologies offered by Danfoss for specific equipment segments?
Danfoss Power Solutions has complete range of products like hydrostatic pumps, motors, variable axle piston pumps, and control valves; and low-speed high-torque motors, electronic control systems and steering units. Using these products, we can offer complete solutions for agriculture, construction, road building, material handling and mining equipment.

Adaptability of electro-hydraulics would rapidly increase in India in the coming years.