Hydraulic Hand Pump
Hand-operated pumps are among the oldest
hydraulic pump varieties. Historically, they were widely used to draw water from wells, and they are sometimes still used for this purpose. Particularly in rural sections of developing economies, where access to electrical or fuel powered pumps can be expensive, hand pumps can still be quite popular. In developed economies, after the development of integrated sewage and water treatment facilities, the use of hand pumps became unnecessary in most cases. Even in rural areas, developed economies have created systems like
electric hydraulic pumps to draw water automatically. However, outside of the context of water pumping, manual hydraulic pumps are still widely used for many purposes. Hydraulic hand and foot jacks, hand pumps for use in industrial and commercial processes and hand pump machinery components are put to use in many contexts.
Hydraulic hand pumps can be used for many purposes; just a few examples include the calibration of instruments, direction of hydraulic fluid to circuits in helicopters and other aircraft and for the actuation of pistons in hydraulic cylinders. These types of hydraulic hand pumps use manual power to pressurize hydraulic fluids. They can be used for pressure testing in various components, including pipes, hoses, valves, heat exchangers and sprinkler systems. The operation of hand pumps is remarkably simple. Each hydraulic hand pump contains a handle or other actuation lever attached to the pump body that, when pushed and pulled, causes pressurization or depressurization of the hydraulic fluid in the pump's system. In the case of hydraulic machinery, this action supplies power to the mechanisms to which the pump is connected. In the case of water pumps, the actuation causes water to be drawn from its source and moved to another place. Because of their relative simplicity and ease of use, hydraulic hand pumps will continue to be popular as long as hydraulics continue to be favored in industry and commerce.
