How Magnetic Bearings will Change the Tech Industy

One of things that I get a real thrill out of is watching technology as it advances and integrates itself into the normal world. I have seen this happen with the Internet, cell phones, fiber optics, cable and satellite TV, computers, and many other technologies. Magnetic bearings have been gaining status recently. What these latest advancements will do to change the world will not be apparent, at first, as the other technological developments, but they will be changing the face of industry and will eventually be seen in everyday life.

Once used only for uranium enrichment, electric power generation, and in the petroleum industry magnetic bearings are now suitable for less heavy duty applications such as fans, office equipment, conveyor systems, standard size electric motors used in industry, air compressors, health monitoring and many other applications. The advancement of several technologies and the integration of these technologies make the modern magnetic bearing possible. These advancements all combine to reduce the size of the bearing system. Bearing pressure is lower on magnetic bearings than on conventional ones. This lower pressure means the physical size of the unit must be larger to accommodate the torque requirements of the application.

One of the main advancements in the design of the magnetic bearing is a reduction of the physical metal of the structure allowing the bearing to be made smaller. The controller part of the system has also been dramatically reduced in size. Once very large, the controller is now close to the size of conventional motor controllers. The design allows the combination of the functions of motor and bearing control into one package.

The advantages of using magnetic bearings are many. There is little friction, no lubrication, operation at lower temperature, reduced load damage, lower energy costs, less maintenance, and lower noise. With software you have the ability to correct and control vibration plus operating parameters can be precisely controlled. One can easily imagine cars in the future using the next generation of this technology. Heat pumps, refrigerators, washing machines, and many other things lasting longer and becoming more reliable.

A lot of this work is due to the efforts of Dr. Victor Iannello, ScD. He is the founder and CEO of Synchrony. Synchrony manufactures and sells magnetic bearing systems. Other manufactures are ZeroF and SKF. With the common availably of these systems we will see the technology rapidly advance to the next level. As usual, I can hardly wait to see how it changes our culture and leads to other scientific developments.

Dr. Victor Iannello, ScD, "Advances in Magnet Bearings." Pumps & Systems