Magnetic bearings offer increased reliability at low system costs. Sensorless!

• increase in process safety by omitting sensors and cabling liable to failure
• no maintenance needed
• suitable for high speed revolution
• reduction of costs by omitting sensors and reduction of electronics (generally from three to two inverters)
• reduction of the construction space of magnetic bearing
• omission of production and maintenance errors in the connection between sensor and controller
• elimination of signal noise and the resulting vibration of the rotor – due to the elimination of analogue paths of the sensor
• simplified commissioning of the rotors and systems
• indirect determination of position and eccentricity from electric current information
• rotating inbalance can be detected and compensated
• rotational speed limit is determined by material limits only
• for conventional magnetic bearings: a redundant control to increase safety
• all advantages of conventional magnetic bearings: no bearing friction losses, no lubricant required, adjustable bearing characteristics
• test series in the laboratory at TU Wien have proven: same control quality as sensor-based systems even with mechanically complex systems – featuring e.g. critical resonances or imbalances
• rapid conversion of existing magnetic bearing systems to sensorless operation possible
• based on tested and tried control method INFORM®, with many thousands of units in use, e.g. in medical and aviation devices

Innovation level

• patent protection
• worldwide unique dynamic, adaptive and cost-effective system of magnetic bearings
• for the first time: new machine components possible at high rotational speed – by replacing ball or roller bearings

Target groups and applications

• automotive, aerospace, textile industry
• electrical, mechanical, process engineering
• utilities and energy suppliers
• high speed drives, spindles
• turbo machines, pumps, gas turbines
• drive systems in vacuum
• ventilation, air conditioning
• flywheels, mechanical energy storage devices

Contact

Univ.Prof. Dr. Manfred Schrödl and Peter Heimerl