SKF magnetic bearings enable more sustainable production of compressed air

Gothenburg, 10 October 2022: 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.”

Aktiebolaget SKF
      (publ)

For further information, please contact:
PRESS: Theo Kjellberg, Director, Press Relations
tel: 46 31 337 6576, mobile: 46 725-776576, e-mail: theo.kjellberg@skf.com

INVESTOR RELATIONS: Patrik Stenberg, Head of Investor Relations
Patrik Stenberg, 46 31-337 2104; 46 705-472 104; patrik.stenberg@skf.com

SKF’s mission is to be the undisputed leader in the bearing business. We do this by offering solutions that reduce friction and CO2 emissions, whilst at the same time increasing machine uptime and performance. Our products and services around the rotating shaft include bearings, seals, lubrication management, artificial intelligence and wireless condition monitoring. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 17,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2021 were SEK 81,732 million and the number of employees was 42,602. www.skf.com

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