Electric motors use magnets to turn electrical energy into mechanical energy, although not all use the same types of magnets. A small percentage of them use rare earth material (REM) magnets; these are highly effective with “incredibly strong magnetic fields at small sizes,” which means that smaller, more efficient electric motors can be manufactured.
Electron Energy Corp. has partnered with researchers at the University of Delaware to create a process that increases electric resistivity by 30 percent or more. Motors made with these magnets would be more energy efficient, even at high speeds.
Interestingly enough, the two elements most commonly used (neodymium and samarium) aren’t especially rare. Samarium is the 40th most common element in the earth’s crust (more common than tin) and neodymium nearly matches copper in abundance. But they are not easily found in concentrated forms, making it more expensive to mine. It is labor intensive, too, to separate these elements from surrounding rock; thus the term “rare.”
Interest in these elements have caused mining operations to open in California, Nevada, Malaysia and Africa, while numerous countries are setting up recycling facilities to extract these elements. It wasn’t long ago that 95% of these elements were mined in China, but this is only a fraction of the earth’s supply, and significant reserves are available in Australia and the former Soviet Union, among other locations.
If you use electric motors in your company, here’s what matters most to you: equipment that runs efficiently and well. Rest assured that, no matter what innovations take place in the world of industrial electric motors, Tekwell Services is there to test, repair and refurbish what you need to keep your equipment running efficiently.
Tekwell has the skills and equipment needed to repair, test, and install machinery while ensuring peak efficiency and reliability. While a lot of companies claim to care about quality, Tekwell can stand behind their claims with the SKF Certified Rebuilder status and documented quality procedures.
We don’t take shortcuts. We get it done right.
Our field service technicians are highly qualified and have extensive knowledge of VFDs, PLCs, vibration testing, thermography, and alignment. Many of our technical staff have been with the company for more than 20 years. Our service technicians are on call 24/7/365.
Contact us today for your electric motor repair / electric motor testing in the Knoxville, Tennessee area and the Cartersville, Georgia area. Or call the Knoxville office at 865.524.3681