--- title: "Hydraulic and Pneumatic Boosters: How Do They Work and What are They Good for?" description: Boosters or intensifiers are used to create a high pressure output from a low pressure input. Much like how an electrical transformer works by trading current for voltage, a hydraulic booster transforms a larger volume of low pressure fluid into a smaller volume at a higher pressure. image: https://blog.sheffercorp.com/hs-fs/file-448581741-jpg/blog-files/id-10050321.jpg --- [![logo](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/hs-fs/file-445633034-png/Image/logo.png)](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/) Search this site on Google Search Google - [Application](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/topic/application) - [Specifying](http://sheffercorp.wordpress.com/category/specifying/) - [Seal Solutions](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/topic/seal-solutions) - [Configuring](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/topic/configuring) - [Troubleshooting](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/topic/troubleshooting) - [Maintenance](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/topic/maintenance) - [Innovation](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/topic/innovation) - [Failure Analysis](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/topic/failure-analysis) ## [Hydraulic and Pneumatic Boosters: How Do They Work and What are They Good for?](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/2013/10/21/hydraulic-and-pneumatic-boosters-how-do-they-work-and-what-are-they-good-for) Oct 21, 2013 4:00:00 AM [LEAVE A COMMENT](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/2013/10/21/hydraulic-and-pneumatic-boosters-how-do-they-work-and-what-are-they-good-for#comments) [![ID-10050321](https://blog.sheffercorp.com/hs-fs/file-448581741-jpg/blog-files/id-10050321.jpg?width=280&height=197&name=id-10050321.jpg)](http://sheffercorp.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/id-10050321.jpg)Boosters or intensifiers are used to create a high pressure output from a low pressure input. Much like how an electrical transformer works by trading current for voltage, a hydraulic booster transforms a larger volume of low pressure fluid into a smaller volume at a higher pressure. ### Gimme a boost? A booster unit is comprised of two sections, a drive cylinder (input) and a high pressure chamber (output). As a fluid is supplied to the drive cylinder this causes the piston and ram to extend. As the ram extends into the chamber the internal volume is compressed creating a pressure. The difference in area between the piston and ram determines the boost ratio which is the relationship between the pressure and volume. For example, a booster with an 8:1 ratio will have an output of 1/8 of its input volume at 8 times the input pressure. ### Under pressure Boosters can be designed to operate on a variety of fluids and can use different fluids on both the input and output sections. A common design is a pneumatic booster where shop air pressure is used to create high pressure hydraulic oil for use in a cylinder. For example a 5” bore pneumatic booster with a 1” dia ram has a ratio of 25:1, when supplied shop air at 80 psi. the unit will generate a hydraulic oil pressure of 2000 psi. This can be very useful where space is limited as the booster unit can be located remotely from the cylinder and can generate a high pressure with only a common air supply. Using the 25:1 ratio pneumatic booster above in a further example if the 2000 psi output is used to drive a 2” bore hydraulic cylinder the cylinder will extend with approximately 6200 lbs of force. To achieve the same 6200 lbs of force directly with a pneumatic cylinder at 80 psi would take a 10” bore cylinder. With available output pressures exceeding 40,000 psi and a large range of possible fluids, boosters can be a great solution to some tricky problems. ***Have an application using a hydraulic or pneumatic booster? Tell us about it. 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