M-ERA.NET project SoftCompEl awarded
Press Release, 7.7.2022
Teraloop teamed up with SpinDrive, a Finnish start-up specializing in active magnetic bearing solutions for the international consortium project Soft Magnetic Composites for Advanced Electrification (SoftCompEl) under M-ERA.NET. Our long term goal through this project is to more than double flywheel specific energy from its current value to a target of 100 Wh/kg, which is currently unavailable in flywheel or supercapacitor technologies today. This level of specific energy unlocks significantly more impact in our applications within the commercial and industrial space. The project is being accomplished together with other future-oriented European company Magnax; and renowned research institutes, Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (the project coordinator) and Flemish Institute for Technological Research.
"We look forward to working together with our consortium partners in this exciting and ambitious project!", Dr. Mika Latikka, Senior Materials Scientist and project responsible at Teraloop.
During this three-year project we will develop next generation high-performance soft magnetic composites for innovative electrical machines. Using this novel material in our flywheel’s active magnetic bearing system will allow us to more than double the specific energy of our rotor and to upgrade our sensor system. Together with other on-going development work, we aim to reach specific energy of 100 Wh/kg for the rotor. Increasing the capacity of the flywheel will allow us to store more energy in the same amount of space and to enhance the efficiency of the system, while reducing our manufacturing costs and environmental footprint. These advances will allow our flywheels to replace Li-Ion batteries for selected applications and reduce dependency on critical materials such as lithium and cobalt.
About SoftCompEl:
Sustainability is a strong driver for electrical machines with smaller sizes and higher efficiency. The design flexibility of electrical machines is much higher with soft magnetic composites (SMCs) providing isotropic magnetic flux in contrast to conventional laminated steel sheets. In SoftCompEl project, the potential of more efficient innovative electrical machines with higher power density shall be exploited by the customized development of high-performance soft magnetic composites for axial flux machines (AFM) and active magnetic bearings (AMB) in flywheels. High speeds of these applications result in tremendous demands regarding the magnetic and mechanical properties of the SMC components. This is a great challenge in material design affecting component design. A consortium of renowned research institutes and future-oriented companies will combine all necessary expertise to develop and demonstrate the potential of high-performance soft magnetic composites in two different applications.
About Teraloop
The energy transition relies on high levels of energy generation from renewable sources. This will require a substantial increase in effective energy storage, to ensure availability of supply, grid flexibility and reliability. Teraloop addresses that demand with scalable and sustainable solutions based on our patented kinetic energy storage, offering a low cost of ownership for applications requiring heavy cycling. Our solutions distinguish themselves first in the hubless configuration of our rotor topology, which enables us to scale efficiently to higher power and energy than competing flywheel solutions, as well as a higher energy density. We further innovate with sustainable material innovations, such as bio-based and recycled carbon fibre, magnetically loaded composites, and bio-based epoxy resins. Our focus is related to sustainable electric mobility; as well as distributed energy resources.
About SpinDrive
SpinDrive improves the energy efficiency of industrial processes by providing active magnetic bearings to equipment manufacturers. SpinDrive solution enables the ultimate rotational speed of different machinery. Higher speed enables to increase the energy efficiency of industrial processes while minimizing the required footprint. SpinDrive system is completely maintenance-free and oil-free reducing the overall maintenance costs and eliminating the risk of oil contamination. The built-in sensors enable condition monitoring of the whole unit.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Mika Latikka, Project responsible and Senior Materials Scientist
Mika.latikka@teraloop.com
+358 50 380 2093
Philippe Pépin, COO and Co-founder
philippe.pepin@teraloop.com
+358 50 387 6377
