Wind Power Systems
Lab Notes Wind Power Systems LAB NOTES is a newsletter we have developed to meet the needs of the research and lab-oriented design engineer who has specialized needs for motion control components. Empire Magnetics Partners with State Rocket Center to Design Low Maintenance Wind Power Systems The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced funding of a proposal submitted by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and Empire Magnetics Inc. Over the next two years, $1.3 million of a total of $36 Million appropriated by the US Congress for International Proliferation Prevention will be dedicated to the design and prototyping of new windmill technology. The program, officially named LBNL-T2-0203-RU Low Maintenance Wind Power System, is an outgrowth of collaboration between scientists and engineers at Lawrence Berkeley Labs, The Makeyev Design Bureau of the State Rocket Center in Miass Russia, and Empire Magnetics Inc. As the cold war winds down and terrorism becomes a greater threat, the US Government has decided that unemployed weapons designers and supporting research scientists present a threat to civilization. With the specific intent of providing peaceful and gainful employment for these scientists, the DOE labs have been tasked with finding ways to generate new business ventures for them. Quite logically the US science community has turned to US industry to find partners for these ventures. These small (3-70 kW) wind power systems use a novel Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) design. VAWT offers a number of advantages over conventional Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT), such as lower maintenance costs and increased durability and reliability. VAWT systems are also more economically viable in remote locations than 100+ kW HAWT systems. Empire Magnetics will be engineering the alternators for these windmills. According to a report by the American Wind Energy Association (www.awea.org), over the last five years growth of the wind power market averaged 30% annually, with 2001 sales topping $7 Billion, and a total of 6500 megawatts added to the grid worldwide in 2001 alone. The multi-billion dollar wind power industry is the world’s fastest growing energy source and is growing in popularity in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and to generate cost-effective electricity in remote locations. These windmills are being proposed as power sources in the effort to help rebuild Afghanistan. Empire Magnetics Inc. has been providing specialized equipment to the national labs for many years. As a result the company was in a position to pull together several programs to put together a plan which, according to the USIC (http://www.usic.net/) review committee was, “The best proposal submitted this year.” This plan has teams of Russian missile, aircraft, submarine and other disciplines working to create advanced windmill designs. The expertise in aerodynamics, mechanical structures and other related areas directly transfer to this peaceful and environmentally friendly purpose. Empire Magnetics Inc. will use its expertise in motor technology to design and build improved alternator technology to be used with these windmills. At LBNL, Daryl Oshatz (daryl_oshatz@lbl.gov) is the project manager, while Glen Dahlbacca PhD. manages the overall LBNL IPP program. Over the last five years Rick Halstead, CEO of Empire Magnetics, has developed a relationship with a private group of engineers in Russia. This group has been providing engineering design services for electric motors and mechanical design projects. As a result Empire has developed the communications and management team in Russia, considered key to the success of the program. In addition, Dean Wieberg of the Jet Propulsion Labs in Pasadena, CA, now serving on the board of directors for Empire Magnetics Inc., has been helpful in providing technical and administrative guidance to the company. Recognizing that even a small windmill market share will be a much larger enterprise than Empire is today, a new company, Wind-Sail is being formed to market the windmill systems. Richard McClellan Ph.D., well known in Sonoma County for his successful venture at Compumotor, now a division of Parker Hannifin, is CEO of Wind-Sail and is taking the lead in developing this business. “New market opportunities are emerging around the world for inexpensive, small-scale power stations. In many locations a modern wind farm or single HAWT capable of generating hundreds of kilowatts is no more appropriate than would be a coal or natural gas-fired power plant. In Russia, India, China and numerous remote locations in the developed and developing world, the expense of fossil fuel based power makes renewable energy sources and, specifically, wind power an extremely attractive alternative,” says Dr. McClellan. A second company in Russia is being formed to move scientists and production from government to private control. Venture capitalists, having done well supporting Dr. McClellan in the past, are assembling a group to fund these new enterprises. Dr. McClellan can be reached at Empire’s offices (ph 707-584-2801). Top Motion Control Solution Provider in 2023 Also named Top Cryogenic Company of 2022 “The specific construction of the magnetic circuit is one of the key design features of a successful cryogenic motor – at which Empire Magnetics takes a lead” Read more.. Empire Magnetics offers: Stepper Motors Servo Motors Gearboxes Resolvers Stand Alone Resolvers Brakes Rotor Nuts Turnkey Projects Repair Services
From Weapons to Wind Power
Lab Notes From Weapons to Wind Power LAB NOTES is a newsletter we have developed to meet the needs of the research and lab-oriented design engineer who has specialized needs for motion control components. News Release: 20 May 2003 ROHNERT PARK, CA. — Empire Magnetics Inc., in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), is working with scientists of the Makeyev State Rocket Center (MSRC) to convert the efforts of 30,000 staff members from development of weapons of mass destruction to peaceful and sustainable commercial enterprises. The collaboration is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) program. In July 2002 Dr. Richard McClellan and Richard Halstead, are believed to be the first non-governmental Americans to visit the formerly secret city of Miass, since the fall of the USSR. Entering and departing Yekaterinburg (Formerly Sverdlovsk) Russia using visas where the photographs of the two Richards exchanged by the Russian consulate in San Francisco required extraordinary cooperation on the part of the Russian immigration officials. A visit by the MSRC project directors to LBNL is planned for early June. In an historic first, the IPP program has obtained permission from the Russian government and U.S. State Department for three top scientists with access to secret projects, from a center that designs and develops submarine based ICBM’s, to travel to the United States. Allowing MSRC scientists to avoid multiple trips to the US Embassy 1700 miles away in Moscow, required extra effort by the consular officials at the US Consulate in Yekaterinburg, to process the two kilograms of forms for each applicant’s visa. Current plans have Vladimir Krivospitskij PhD, Jurij Grahov PhD, and Vasilij Maksimov PhD arriving in San Francisco on the 8th of June 2003 for eight days of meeting and tours. The specific purpose of the lab meetings is to expedite the development of vertical axis windmills for mass production. However with such a large pool of scientific and engineering talent at MSRC, additional opportunities for peaceful commerce are needed, interested parties should contact Empire Magnetics Inc. to arrange meetings. Vladimir Krivospitskij a former Olympian, heads up the MSRC efforts in Miass. Approximately twenty scientists, and a larger group of engineers & technicians support him. With the expectation that this project will expand to include many more of the 4000+ PhD’s at the MSRC, a private corporation has been formed for the specific purpose of moving these scientists off government payrolls. A private Russian company, Uralmet Scientific Institute is acting as the liaison between the Russian government and private industry. On the American side, Daryl Oshatz of the Engineering Division at LBNL is leading the IPP project, while Dr. Glen Dahlbacca is the IPP program director. Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey’s has been briefed on the project. Empire Magnetics Inc, as the supplier of alternators for the windmills, is currently the focal point for private US business activity in this undertaking. Intent upon locating partners and venture funding to support rapid growth, Dr. McClellan is acting as CEO of soon to be formed umbrella organization named Wind-sail. Top Motion Control Solution Provider in 2023 Also named Top Cryogenic Company of 2022 “The specific construction of the magnetic circuit is one of the key design features of a successful cryogenic motor – at which Empire Magnetics takes a lead” Read more.. Empire Magnetics offers: Stepper Motors Servo Motors Gearboxes Resolvers Stand Alone Resolvers Brakes Rotor Nuts Turnkey Projects Repair Services
Lab Notes Articles
Special Interest Articles Lab Notes LAB NOTES is a newsletter we have developed to meet the needs of the research and lab-oriented design engineer who has specialized needs for motion control components. Empire Magnetics’ customers usually have unique motor needs. Often, they require motors that will function reliably in environments that are hostile to standard motors… Different models in our line of 1.8° hybrid permanent magnet stepping motors and brush-less servo motors are qualified to withstand the effects of vacuum environments, radiation, extreme temperatures (including cryogenic), dust and abrasives, and also perform when submerged in liquids. LAB NOTES will explore the hostile conditions related to vacuum and radiation resistant motors and resolvers. Lab Notes Articles From Lab Notes Did You Know? Choosing Standard, Modified, or Custom Motors Our Space Heritage From Weapons to Wind Power Empire Magnetics Partners with State Rocket Center to Design Low Maintenance Wind Power Systems Specialty Motors for Corrosive Environments Motor Selection for Deep Sea Applications Motors for Positioning in Vacuums Motors in Radiation-Intensive Environments Radiation-Hardened Motors (ORNL Develops Fuel Pin Dissolver with Empire’s Radiation-Resistant Motors) Semiconductor Manufacturing Requirements (Drive New Automation Technologies) Motor Designs To Survive Hostile Environments Using Purge and Pressurization to Prevent Explosions Step Motors in Space Applications Waterproof Step Motors Make Waves in Industry Did You Know? That teflon breaks down very quickly when subjected to gamma radiation? Under massive doses, teflon can be made to vaporize so rapidly that a toxic gas cloud is created.That Teflon recovers well from low temperatures? Teflon-insulated wires used at 20°K can be cycled to and from room temperatures without significant damage.That Teflon works well in a vacuum, and that its vapor pressure is similar to many metals?That Teflon is subject to “cold flow” and is not a good choice for machined parts when accurate dimensions must be maintained?That Empire Magnetics has supplied its specialized motors for satellite applications? One of our motor gearbox assemblies is mission-critical. The motor rotates the platform to orient the satellite antenna arrays. We are also supplying other, much smaller motors to the European space agency.That the power of a motor cannot be increased by adding a gearbox? Power is the multiple of speed times torque. Since a gear ratio will multiply the torque, but divide the speed, the only effect on total power is the reduction caused by the inefficiency of the gearing.That dry ‘lubes’ react in different ways to airborne moisture? Graphite requires moisture to lubricate, for instance. Molybdenum disulfide, however, absorbs moisture and degrades quickly. This is one reason why graphite is a poor vacuum lube and MSO2 is often used instead. There are many processes for applying MSO2 (or similar dry lubes): spraying it into the bearings is the method used for larger bearings (where clumps of lube are not significant); binders are used to “paint” the dry lube onto the metal surface; impingement is used to “hammer” the dry lube to the surface; flame plasma is used to fuse the material to the metal. The latest approach for applying dry lube is ion implantation, or deposition. None of these methods is without flaws, but the ion implant technique does seem to be best for instrument grade bearings for high precision applications.That the life of a stepper or brushless motor is limited by the life of the bearings and the thermal life of the insulation materials? Most motors fail not due to the end of the motor’s life, but because they are misapplied or have been abused by the people using them. Top Motion Control Solution Provider in 2023 Also named Top Cryogenic Company of 2022 “The specific construction of the magnetic circuit is one of the key design features of a successful cryogenic motor – at which Empire Magnetics takes a lead” Read more.. Lab Notes: LAB NOTES is a newsletter we have developed to meet the needs of the research and lab-oriented design engineer who has specialized needs for motion control components. Empire Magnetics’ customers usually have unique motor needs. Often, they require motors that will function reliably in environments that are hostile to standard motors… Different models in our line of 1.8° hybrid permanent magnet stepping motors and brush-less servo motors are qualified to withstand the effects of vacuum environments, radiation, extreme temperatures (including cryogenic), dust and abrasives, and also perform when submerged in liquids. LAB NOTES will explore the hostile conditions related to vacuum and radiation resistant motors and resolvers.