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Power and Motion |
Our flywheel battery is far different from any others, mainly due to its nearly zero storage (idling) losses, zero maintenance, and unlimited service life. It was created to meet a vast need for practical environmentally-responsive power storage. Rotational dynamics, magnetic fields and forces, power electronics, advanced materials processing, and system integration, are a few of its most important elements. Pioneering architecture, that includes building-integral power systems, needs the practical and efficient power storage/regeneration it will afford, for profound environmentally responsive energy solutions.
We were able to achieve important competitive advantages over other flywheel batteries, which don't meet the needs of our intended market. We achieved our goal by focusing our efforts on stationary, on-site UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) with practically no losses.
Our development and marketing strategy: To provide a complete utility power backup UPS, for an existing market we can grow; plus UPS having ultra-efficient long-term power storage, for new building-integral solar and wind power systems -- an emerging market with vast global potential. Both markets will be served by similar RPM flywheel battery technology.
Parallel connection of 2 or more systems will accommodate a variety of power storage needs with one model, and dramatically increase UPS reliability. On a space-craft, they can also provide inertial attitude control, without gyros and jet thrustors.
Urgently needed and fast growing application: Uninterruptible on-site power, as more reliable UPS systems that provide crucial power during utility line outages, for intranet and internet servers and routers. Ultimate applications: UPS with on-site solar and wind power generation systems.
Other flywheel batteries supply power for only seconds or minutes, and self-discharge in hours. Their motor/generator's ball bearing and magnetically cycled iron core losses are partly responsible. Ours can supply power for days, and can store it without substantial self-discharge for years; due in part to our patented m/g's lack of hysteresis and eddy losses, and to its contactless bearings. Mechanical backup bearings are engaged only during non-operating modes like transit and storage, before power-up and after power-down.
Our total and integrated design approach, with coreless, ultra-efficient m/g having practically zero idling losses; integral with magnetic bearings specifically designed for vertical-axis rotors, that are inherently stable radially, and self-adjust long-term axial rotor position for zero electromagnet power; have no friction or hot spots, and dissipate practically no idling power at normal running speeds.
We even use gravity and rotor gyro dynamics to advantage: At any global location, excepting the earth's poles, a precession torque tending to tilt the rotor's axis, is caused by the earth's rotation of 1-revolution per day. By magnetically hanging the rotor from a high location relative to its center of gravity, this tilt is limited to a degree or so by inherent gravity and gyro stabilization.
Others enclose flywheels in heavy and costly enclosures, intended to contain a possible explosion. Our electronics starts a power-down, if our flywheel vibrates excessively. And our flywheel is normally installed in an underground site that can safely absorb a maximum energy, rapid discharge flywheel explosion. That precaution is crucial, even though such an explosion is very unlikely. See image of our flywheel in a self-leveling underground installation below:
Fradella developed the brushless DC regenerative motor shown below about 35 years ago. It has no core loss. It has no cogging torque. It has stator winding losses of about 1%. Its power electronics has losses of about 5%. So its electromechnical power conversion efficiency is about 94%. It is readily scalable, depending on the number of disks in the motor assembly and its power electronics. A special version can enable a motor-wheel for ultra-efficient electric vehicles.
RPM's broad-speed-range brushless DC generator can produce over 2x the energy yield of others, by integral boost-regulation switchmode power electronics. Its DC output power is current and voltage regulated, and able to maximize power from wind turbines over a wide speed range. Power quality is far better than others. Especially compared to induction generators that now dominate wind farms, which are limited in number by utilities, because their uncontrolled power disruptions can cause grid failures.
A lab photo of our generator, charging batteries, driven by a variable-speed test motor, is shown below.
With partners who share our vision, we want to produce an electric vehicle (EV) like no other. Our motor-wheel considerably enhances its performance. It would be solar powered in daylight, and have an optional onboard generator powered by recumbent cycling pedals that offers a healthy time-saving exercise option while extending the EV's driving range. Its onboard battery replacement cost would be only a few % of that for other EVs, because its batteries would normally not be discharged while driving unlimited distances at average 50-mph speeds, so they would normally last 10 years vs. about 2 years in other EVs, and our EV would need only about 10% as many onboard batteries as other EVs.
An image of our EV and 1 of its 2 rear motor-wheels is shown below:
With
a focus on realistic applications, we have developed a minimum cost, maximum
performance, dependable, zero maintenance, power storage system. We envision
it enhancing exciting solar power construction projects like the Natatorium,
for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Photo at left shows it under construction.
It's a link
to more projects like it.
RPM's startup team appreciates your interest in our venture. Our work covers 2 decades of evolving engineering analysis, design, breadboarding, prototyping, and test. We love this work and the great friends who help and encourage us.
Explore our other pages: HOME (for an overview), TUTORIAL (a good place to look for a review of basic flywheel physics and different implementations), our Business Plan Abstract (to see what we've achieved and our future plans), and our RESOURCES.
You may also like to see how we might play an awesome role, to enable practical, low cost, convenient, wide scale use of safe high-performance Electric Vehicles with no range limitations.
Links to flywheel batteries,
solar and wind power, dual-mode EVs, and a plan to achieve them
Urban EV with Onboard Batteries,
Charger, PV, Regenerative Motor, Pedals
Solar and Wind Power:
Simplified Benefit/Cost Analysis
