SKF’s magnetic bearings, which can rotate at up to 50,000 rpm are now playing a key role in reducing CO2 emissions across a range of industrial applications, including compressors.

SKF’s magnetic bearing technology has been selected by Finnish cleantech company Tamturbo for their high-speed turbo motors used in industrial air compressors.

Compressed air is used in many indus­trial plants to power machines, tools and automation, as well as to move materials through the production process.

The delivery of compressed air historically makes use of oil-based screw compressors, which have high maintenance costs and associated CO2 emissions resulting both from the oil they consume as well as energy waste in the form of extra heat loss.

By using high-speed, direct drive centrifugal compressors, with permanent magnet motors and active magnetic bearings as a core technology, industrial customers can generate compressed air with lower emissions, longer service intervals and a lower total cost of ownership, compared to oil-based screw compressors.

Thomas Fröst, President, Independent & Emerging Business at SKF, says: “Helping industries shift towards more sustainable operations is what SKF is all about. What makes our magnetic bearing technology so exciting is that a solution that was once developed for oil and gas industries is now able to accelerate the development of cleaner technologies.”

Igor Nagaev, President & CEO of Tamturbo, says: “SKF’s magnetic bearings help solve a number of critical dilemmas in our applications: enabling high rotational speeds, with outstanding reliability and improved efficiency. This contributes to helping Tamturbo offer customers compressors with a lower total cost of ownership and reduced CO2 emissions.”