Bearing selection software – backed up by expert knowledge – helped CorPower Ocean to specify the most appropriate bearings for a new design of wave energy converter.
SKF’s expertise in bearings has helped CorPower Ocean to optimise the design of a new class of wave energy converters.
CorPower’s compact wave energy converter works by oscillating with the waves, amplifying the movement, using phase-control technology, and converting this into electricity.
“Wave power has a more stable production profile,” says Patrik Möller, CEO of CorPower. “It can play a key role in the transition to 100 percent renewable energy systems by replacing base power such as coal and nuclear power.”
However, choosing suitable bearings for the new converter, which has slow rotation speeds and very high loads, was challenging.
CorPower began with SKF’s Bearing Select online tool, as a first step to selecting the optimum bearing arrangements. The software, which is free to download, simplifies the task of finding the correct bearing solution for a particular design. Inserting operational parameters into the software automatically generates bearing solutions within one minute.
Because of the special conditions related to the wave power converters, CorPower needed more detailed bearings advice. SKF was brought into the project early – providing engineering support for the bearing solutions, as well as lubrication and monitoring systems.
“Our application engineers were involved at an early stage in the design process,” says Mattias Arstadius, Industrial Sales Unit Manager for SKF in Sweden. “This helped us to identify improvements that shorten development time, optimise performance and reduce costs.”
CorPower Ocean has now developed a first full-scale plant. This will be tested in the company’s dry-test rig over the summer, then placed in the sea off the Portuguese coast in the autumn. The company plans to launch a type certified commercial product on the global market by 2024.
Shorten your development process by downloading SKF Bearing Select via www.skfbearingselect.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 2020 were SEK 74 852 million and the number of employees was 40,963. www.skf.com
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