Homopolar Motor with Liquid Metal Brushes

Magnetic Motor, Magnetics

October 23, 2013

by mark dansie

Repost This Article

GUINA Research and Development Australia

They claim their technology harnesses the power of highly compressed magnetic field to produce far greater reaction
than the compressed fluids used in conventional and jet engines. Power to weight can be in excess of 30:1 kW/kg.

I like to thank Uli who is a regular commentator at Revolution -Green fro finding this website. Uli is still able to post
also at Free Energy News a increasingly rare privilege.

I have drawn upon press releases and their website for most of
these materials. There are a lot of claims of what they intend to
achieve, I guess time will tell if they get there. This is not an energy
generating technology but what I call an enabling technology that
will bring many advances in inefficiencies and cost reductions into
practical applications such as wind turbines. I particular I was
interested in the magnetic shielding technology “Stray Field
Reduction” It is a novel approach.

According to Arkadiy Matsekh, PhD Scientific Research

Manager, Guina R&D Australia Homopolar machines are well
known for their simplicity and high efficiency. Being pure DC
electrical devices they make excellent motors with constant torque,
as well as low-voltage and high current generators. Both homopolar
motors and generators have superior power to weight ratios, long
service-free operation periods, high efficiency, pure DC noise-free
operation. Homopolar machines are characterised by intrinsically
low voltage and high operating currents making a current
connection between moving and stationary parts of the machine a
challenging task.

Liquid Metal Contacts: high magnetic fields in the region of liquid metal current collectors make it difficult to use liquid
metals due to magneto-hydrodynamic effects. Guina R&D’s motor and generator designs incorporate null field regions to
reduce local magnetic field in the contact area to appropriate levels. This is required for efficient operation of liquid
metal current collectors, similar to the types used in the previously demonstrated devices with conventional magnets,
while fully using the advantage of superior high magnetic field generated by superconducting magnets.

Guina R&D is putting significant effort towards improving the performance of liquid metal current collectors, and is
looking for alternative materials suitable for use as a contact agent. We are looking for ways to reduce electrical
resistance and mechanical losses, improve cooling and durability by combining different liquid and solid materials,
coatings and geometry while constantly searching for new concepts and approaches.

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Technology Applications and Developments

Homopolar motors and generators have achieved a demonstrated operating efficiency of 98%. Our company has
invented the Tron series of Electromagnetic Turbines (motors and generators) which are based on the homopolar
principle of operation. Guina’s Intellectual Property revolutionises the homopolar concept and puts it on the frontier of
technological advancement. Our motors and generators are going to offer the highest power to weight ratio in the world.
Currently the most advanced jet engines have a power to weight ratio of 10:1 kW/kg and high speed synchronous motors
have a power to weight ratio of 14:1 kW/kg. It is our aim for our High Speed Super-Tron Electromagnetic Turbine motors
and generators to operate with a power to weight ratio of 30:1 kW/kg and beyond. Compressing the magnetic field and
producing a reaction that creates drive can yield far greater power to weight ratios than compressing fluids – the
mechanism that creates drive in conventional and jet engines or steam turbines.

Our Tron Electromagnetic Turbines (motors and generators) and our Electromagnetic Power Converters will be the first
devices of their type in the world which are can be fully sealed with the torque transmitted via magnetic couplings. This
makes our Electromagnetic Turbines ideally suited to marine applications.

Power Converters

Our Electromagnetic Power Converters can be used as transformers for

stepping up or down voltage and current to transform electrical energy to a
form suitable for the intended application. These converters are very
efficient and simple devices that use no power electronics and have very
little heat loss. They are ideal DC transformers. Our Electromagnetic Power
Converters have application across a wide range of industries including:

 The production of hydrogen fuel via electrolysis.

 Electrowinning.

 Smelting.

 Electroplating.

 Military use, including rail guns, generators for high powered radar
and many other uses.

 Electromagnetic gearboxes for mechanical transfer.

In tandem with an AC generator or motor they can be used as AC/DC or DC/AC converters. Additionally, they can operate
as an electromagnetic mechanical gearbox (high speed to low speed or the reverse) and have many other industrial
applications. As they are pure DC devices they operate without any voltage ripple.
This technology can also be coupled to AC generators in existing wind turbine installations in order to eliminate the need
for electronic power converters and reduce thermal losses.

Electromagnetic Gearboxes

In addition to stepping up and down DC Voltage and Current our Electromagnetic Power Converters can also step up and
down speed and mechanical torque thereby functioning as an Electromagnetic Gearbox.

Advantages of our Electromagnetic Gearboxes include:

 They can be designed for a wide range of speeds from 6 RPM to 50,000+ RPM at power levels above 10kW.

 Our gearboxes can operate across a wide range of mechanical step up (1:40) or step down (40:1) ratios or as
pure mechanical isolation (1:1).

 The gearboxes are fully reversible and able to operate in either step up or step down configuration.

 They perform mechanical isolation between the input and output shafts as power transmission is accomplished
electromagnetically.

 This mechanical isolation provides inherent transient overload protection in the event of fault conditions. It also
significantly reduces the number of contacting surfaces and associated mechanical wear.

 Our Electromagnetic Gearboxes are lighter in weight than conventional mechanical gearboxes.

 The gearboxes have the potential for electronically adjustable ratios – achieved by varying the relative strengths
of the driving magnetic fields.

 The noise and vibration produced by our Electromagnetic Gearboxes is far lower than that of competing
technologies.

 They can transfer mechanical power more efficiently than conventional gearboxes, particularly at high speed and
at large gear ratios.

Our Electromagnetic Gearbox technology is particularly suited to high speed applications, overcoming some of the
major shortfalls of high speed mechanical power transmission.

G1 and G2 High Speed Super-Tron Electromagnetic Turbine

The High Speed Super-Tron Electromagnetic Turbine Generators and Motors, designed by Guina Research &
Development, represent the simplest design implementations that encompass all of our unique technology. These
Electromagnetic Turbines have the highest power to weight of all the Guina Tron series of Electromagnetic Turbines due
to their high speed of operation. Our latest development program has resulted in the second generation of our High
Speed Super-Tron Electromagnetic Turbines (motor & generators). These designs incorporate improvements in power to
weight, a reduction of inter coil forces and reduced superconducting wire length and cost.

Wind Turbine Direct Drive Generators

 Guina R&D’s wind turbine technology represents the lightest and
smallest Direct Drive Wind Turbine generation solution developed
to date. Modern large high power output wind turbine assemblies
are expensive to construct. The tower, gearbox, transformers and
converters are approximately 50% of the total cost. Guina R&D’s
wind turbine technology can significantly reduce the overall cost
of the wind turbine assembly. The higher efficiency of Guina
R&D’s wind turbine solutions enables the generation of
approximately 10% more electrical power. This wind turbine
technology simplifies the entire energy conversion process from
wind source to the grid.

Our 7-10 MW generator designs are at least 100 ton lighter than
the nearest competitor.

When examining Guina Research & Development’s concept for

direct drive wind turbines one has to look at the total picture,
from blade design through to electrical grid integration and
power demand management. In each of these areas we believe
our technology has advantages over existing solutions.

Stray Field Reduction Technology

An important feature that can be applied to all of the Tron series of Electromagnetic Turbines from the lightweight High
Speed G2 Super-Trons to the Direct Drive Wind Turbine Generators is Guina’s Stray Field Reduction Technology. This
technology greatly reduces any stray field produced by the superconducting coils used in our Electromagnetic Turbines,
reducing the space required surrounding the devices for regulatory compliance. This space is generally represented by a
line around the devices beyond which the magnetic field strength is below 5 Gauss (the 5 Gauss Line).

Typically, magnetic shielding or boundary reduction of the 5 Gauss line is achieved using large amounts of steel or other
highly magnetically permeable material. In weight sensitive applications involving high magnetic fields the use of large
amounts of steel is a significant disadvantage. Guina R&D’s Stray Field Reduction Technology overcomes this
disadvantage through the use of powered (active) electromagnetic coils positioned outside of the primary
electromagnetic coils that create the driving field and null regions.

Aero-Tron

One of the reasons why homopolar engines were not used in the past – whether for marine use or the electrical
propulsion of aircraft – was because of the lack of appropriate power converters to accompany them. Additionally the
power to weight of previous homopolar motor designs was not high enough for aircraft applications. Our Aero-Tron
system, incorporating our High Speed Super-Tron Electromagnetic Turbine motors and generators, offers a power to
weight ratio perfectly suited for aircraft applications. The ideal Aero-Tron System incorporates a High Speed Super-Tron
Electromagnetic Turbine generator coupled to a jet engine. The output power from this Electromagnetic Turbine
generator would be matched to power the Aero-Tron System motors. The Aero-Tron could also work in conjunction with
a battery bank, flow batteries or a hydrogen fuel cell system.
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Marine Propulsion Pod System

When our Pod systems are configured to include an

Electromagnetic Power Converter stage they are ideally suited to
direct drive marine propulsion. The Electromagnetic Converter
Stage takes a high DC voltage, low current supply and transforms
this into a low DC voltage, high current supply that is needed for
the low speed final motor stage. A contact-less magnetic coupling
could be used to transmit the torque to the final drive shaft. This
would result in a system where the electrical systems are
completely isolated from the marine environment. As seen in
previous applications our propulsion pod technology could be
readily integrated with hydrogen fuel cell energy storage
solutions.

Liquid Metal Brushes

Liquid Metal Brushes are a key component of the technology encompassed within Guina’s IP and proposed applications.
Current sliding contact technology only delivers 90 – 150 A/cm 2. Liquid metal brushes can achieve up to 3,000 A/cm 2 at
surface speeds of 200 m/s and above while delivering lower friction and electrical losses. Sodium-Potassium (NaK), which
has a density lower than that of water, is ideally suited for our applications. The team at Guina R&D is researching other
low melting point alloys that could offer improved performance in some applications. These brushes have no mechanical
component wear and will ultimately offer a longer service life.

Coils with Null Field Regions

Coils with Null Field Regions were originally invented to accommodate liquid metal brushes and conventional brush
technology. The creation and optimisation of these magnetic field nulls is one of the key technologies in terms of
increasing the power to weight ratio of our devices. These Null Field Regions allow the brush technology to effectively
deliver electrical energy while surrounded by extremely high magnetic field densities.

Super-Tron

Super-Tron Electromagnetic Turbine motors and generators are the most advanced implementation of all of the
previously developed Electromagnetic Turbine designs. The advanced design of the electromagnetic coils used in our
various Electromagnetic Turbine designs creates an area of null field perfectly suited to implementing Liquid Metal
Brushes.

One of the key technologies to be used in the Super-Tron series of Electromagnetic Turbines is Liquid Metal Brushes.
These brushes can deliver much more current in the same working area. This results in far higher output torque/power
and in turn reduces the number of rotors (driving or generation elements) per Electromagnetic Turbine. Liquid Metal
Brushes will also significantly extend the service life of the Super-Tron series Electromagnetic Turbines.
This uniquely advanced design of the electromagnetic coils for the Tron series of Electromagnetic Turbines developed
“in-house” at Guina Research & Development, provides existing Electromagnetic Turbine motors with greater torque due
to an increase in the effective working length of the torque element.

This series of coils and solenoid designs has taken years to develop. The Super-Tron series of Electromagnetic Turbines
represent the most powerful and perfectly refined Electromagnetic Turbine system within the Guina series of Tron
Electromagnetic Turbines.

Super-Tron Electromagnetic Turbine generators can be designed to directly couple with Super-Tron Electromagnetic
Turbine motors and vice-versa

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History

Mr. Ante (Tony) Guina, a Croatian born scientist and the Managing Director of Guina Research & Development, started
research into magnetic and electromagnetic fields in the mid 1990′s. The company established an office on the Gold
Coast, Australia, for the purpose of furthering this research. In 2004 the company broadened its research focus to
include the rapidly advancing fields of Superconductivity and Superconductive Materials.

In early 2010, Mr. Guina invented his first Electromagnetic Turbine motor (the Alpha-Tron). Since then Mr. Guina has
invented coils and solenoids with a series of null regions in the electromagnetic field for use in the Super-Tron series of
Electromagnetic Turbine motors and generators. He has also invented all of the other Electromagnetic Turbine motors
and generators presented on this site. These Electromagnetic Turbine motors and generators represent the most
advanced and powerful Electromagnetic Turbines, in terms of their power to weight ratio, in the world.

Guina Research & Development has a dedicated team of scientists that have contributed hard work and ideas to further
perfect, refine and tune the Coils, Solenoids and Electromagnetic Turbine motor and generator designs. All of our
scientists are long term employees of the company and are dedicated to pioneering research and development.

In 2012, John Kells (Development Manager) invented our Electromagnetic Power Converters/Gearboxes which were
further developed and refined by Dr. Rene Fuger (Development Manager – Superconductivity) & David Sercombe
(Project Development Manager) along with the rest of the team. AIn 2012 Their team of scientists have developed direct
drive generators required for wind turbines and the Electromagnetic Power Convertors needed for successful
implementation of our entire range of Tron series Electromagnetic Turbine motors and generators. Towards the end of
2012

Research and development of liquid metal brush technology has been led by Dr. Arkadiy Matsekh (Scientific Research
Manager) and Dr. Cesimiro Fabian FIEAust CPEng (Electromaterials Research Manager) with support from the team.

Our wind turbine generator technology has also been further optimised to reduce weight and minimise the lengths of
superconducting wire used. Our technology is squarely aimed at the high power, direct drive wind turbine industry. This
technology would reduce tower weight and associated infrastructure significantly therefore reducing overall wind
turbine cost significantly.
We believe that our technology (motors & generators) from 1 MW can be constructed with a cost advantage over
existing technology.

Link @ Source http://www.guinarnd.com/