Magnetic bearings, which can rotate at up to 50 000rpm are now playing a key role in reducing CO2 emissions across a range of industrial applications, including compressors. SKF’s magnetic bearing technology has been selected by Finnish cleantech company Tamturbo for their high-speed turbo motors used in industrial air compressors.
The delivery of compressed air historically makes use of oil-based screw compressors, which have high maintenance costs and associated CO2 emissions resulting both from the oil they consume as well as energy waste in the form of extra heat loss.
By using high-speed, direct drive centrifugal compressors, with permanent magnet motors and active magnetic bearings as a core technology, industrial customers can generate compressed air with lower emissions, longer service intervals and a lower total cost of ownership, compared with oil-based screw compressors.
Thomas Fröst, President, Independent & Emerging Business at SKF says, “Helping industries shift towards more sustainable operations is what SKF is all about. What makes our magnetic bearing technology so exciting is that a solution that was once developed for oil and gas industries is now able to accelerate the development of cleaner technologies.”
