In the world of hydraulics, sometimes you have to bring out the big guns. We've already covered the standard NG6 (up to 80 l/min) and NG10 (up to 160 l/min). But what if you're designing a powerful press brake, enormous scrap shears, or equipment for the shipbuilding industry, and your pump delivers 250 or 300 liters of oil per minute?
At such flow rates and pressures around 350 bar, the physical forces acting within the system are so monstrous that traditional solutions simply stop working.
BRhydraulic experts took a close look at the super heavyweight champions – manifold-mounted directional valves in size CETOP 07 (NG16). Find out why these valves look different from smaller models and what constitutes their engineering "magic."
1. CETOP 07 (NG16) – When the Jokes End
The NG16 designation tells us that the main flow channels inside the manifold and the valve have a diameter of as much as 16 mm. This is no longer a small tube – it's a true hydraulic highway, capable of handling huge masses of oil without flow restriction or overheating the system.
Valves in this standard are powerful chunks of metal, weighing several kilograms. They are used in:
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Metallurgy and casting machines.
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Large-scale plastic injection molding machines.
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Hydraulic presses with forces of hundreds or thousands of tons.
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Large mining excavators and offshore equipment.
2. Why is a solenoid coil alone not enough for NG16? (Indirect control)
If you look at a CETOP 07 valve, you'll immediately notice something strange. It looks like someone placed one small valve on top of another, much larger one. Why?
Smaller valves (NG6 and NG10) use direct control – current flows through the coil, the electromagnet generates a magnetic field, and directly shifts the steel spool inside the valve.
However, in NG16 valves, the flowing oil creates such enormous resistance that no standard electromagnet would have the strength to shift the main, thick spool. Instead of building bucket-sized coils, engineers applied an ingenious solution: electro-hydraulic control (indirect/pilot-operated).
How does it work?
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At the very bottom is a massive main valve (NG16) with a thick spool. It does not have its own electric coils!
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A small, standard pilot valve (most often a regular NG6 / CETOP 03 valve with coils) is bolted to its top.
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When you apply current, the small valve on top opens and lets a bit of pressurized oil into the side chambers of the large valve below.
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It is this oil pressure (not a magnet) that shifts the main spool in the NG16 valve with immense force!
We use the power of hydraulics itself to control hydraulics. Clever, right?
3. Extreme power, same service convenience
Despite their massive size and double construction, CETOP 07 (NG16) valves retain the greatest advantage of the entire ISO 4401 standard: full interchangeability without disturbing the piping.
In systems with flow rates of 300 l/min, hydraulic hoses (or thick-walled steel pipes) have a diameter exceeding 1 inch. Trying to unscrew them to replace a damaged valve in an old monoblock system would require huge wrenches, force, and would probably end with dozens of liters of oil spilling.
With a CETOP 07 manifold system, all the massive piping is permanently screwed (or welded) into the heavy connection block. If the valve fails, you unscrew six powerful Allen screws, remove the module, and install a new one – regardless of whether the previous one was Rexroth, Parker, or BRhydraulic. The machine quickly returns to operation.
Summary
The leap from direct-acting valves to pilot-operated valves (NG16) is entering the world of true, heavy-duty engineering. If your machine requires gigantic flows and you don't want to risk overheating the oil and restricting the system, the CETOP 07 standard is the only proper solution.
Looking for robust components for super heavyweights? At BRhydraulic, you'll find professional electro-hydraulically controlled CETOP 07 (NG16) manifold-mounted directional valves. Contact our experts, and we'll help you choose a system that will tame any power!
