Touch-Free™

Active magnetic bearing turbo compressors: parts that don't touch, don't wear

Tamturbo® air compressor direct-drive turbo technology is centred around a few unique principles. At the heart of every Tamturbo® oil-free air compressor is our patented capacity control and operating system, operating the 3-stage compressor core with the help of industry-leading Variable Speed Drives (VSD).

Tamturbo® proprietary Active Magnetic Bearings (AMB) are the key to the Touch-Free™ technology. By providing friction-free rotation with zero drag or metal-to-metal contact, our components won’t ever wear or break down. The AMBs react instantly, eliminating vibration completely. Self-protecting levitation also prevents damage in the event of a power failure inside your facility, as power stored in the rotation and in capacitors keeps the bearings energized until the motor slows down and stops. Over hundred thousand AMB units in HVAC, oil and gas fields, deep-sea gas pumps and other tough uses have proven our product’s technology, maturity and superiority in demanding applications.

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Touch-Free

Parts that don’t touch, don’t wear. All Tamturbo® Touch-Free™ Technology air compressors are direct driven high-speed VSD centrifugal compressors that produce 100% oil-free compressed air for industrial customers.

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Oil-Free

We have absolutely no oil in our compressor. Tamturbo® Touch-Free™ compressors have impellers mounted on the high-speed motor shaft while producing 100% oil-free compressed air.

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Care-Free

Maintenance-free Tamturbo® Technology makes compressed air care free. All Tamturbo® Touch-Free™ Technology compressors are direct driven high-speed VSD turbo compressors that produce 100% oil-free compressed air for industrial customers.

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Reliability Without Wear and Tear

Our direct-driven VSD turbo compressors are fully free of machine maintenance to critical components, free of component failure and free of any oil contamination risk. To secure the highest reliability we use the best components in our air compressors. For example, our impellers are made from toughest titanium to make sure they exceed your expectations.

Efficiency That Pays Off for Decades

The life-cycle cost is a result of several factors: for example, purchase cost, periodic service & maintenance cost, repairs and overhauls and the cost of consumed energy. With Tamturbo® Touch-Free™ VSD compressors you will get significant savings from all the biggest cost items: energy, service, maintenance, repairs and overhauls. Tamturbo® units have better and lasting energy efficiency compared to the “oil-free” dry screws, so you will save significant amounts of money on the electrical bill. With Tamturbo® Touch-Free™ technology, the periodic maintenance and overhauls are virtually non-existent.

Reliability
Rotating parts levitate and only touch the air.

Precision
Active measuring and control ensures rotating parts are always held exactly in place.

Clearance
Easy-to-maintain designed clearances.

Durability
Unlimited starts and stops. No damage risk in power failure.

What is an active magnetic bearing?

A typical active magnetic bearing is made up of an electromagnet assembly, a set of power amplifiers to supply current to the electromagnets, a controller, and gap sensors with associated electronics to provide the feedback required to control the position of the rotor within the gap. Power amplifiers supply equal current to two pairs of electromagnets on opposite sides of a rotor.

This constant pushing and pulling is mediated by a controller, offsetting the current by equal but opposite amounts of current as the rotor deviates by a small amount from its center position. Sensors provide information to the controller for specific rotor position allowing the controller to interpret and control the amount of current provided by the power amplifier.

 

 

Frequently asked questions

Why do magnetic bearings matter in a compressor? No contact means no friction, no wear and no lubricating oil. That gives 100% oil-free air, near-zero mechanical maintenance, and efficiency that doesn’t degrade over time.

What is a high-speed turbo compressor? A compressor whose impellers are mounted directly on a high-speed motor shaft (direct-driven), spinning at very high speed to compress air efficiently, no gearbox, couplings, oil seals or mechanical bearings.

What is a turbo impeller? The impeller is the rotating disc that accelerates air in a turbo (centrifugal) compressor. In a Tamturbo compressor each impeller is machined from tough titanium and mounted directly on the high-speed motor shaft, with no gears or oil, so it doesn’t wear and keeps its efficiency for the life of the machine.

What is a magnetic bearing? A magnetic bearing suspends the rotor in a controlled magnetic field so it spins without physical contact. Because nothing touches, there is no friction, no wear and no need for lubricating oil, the foundation of Tamturbo’s 100% oil-free, Touch-Free™ design.

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