Ricardo has unveiled a breakthrough in its revolutionary Kinergy hermetically sealed, high-speed flywheel energy storage device. According to Nick Owen, project director for research and collaboration at Ricardo UK, a major improvement in the magnetic coupling and gearing system has now taken its efficiency to better than that of a conventional geared drive. Kinergy is based on a high-speed carbon fibre flywheel that operates in a hermetically sealed vacuum chamber at speeds of up to 60,000rpm. Unlike current mechanical energy storage devices, in which energy is imported and exported via a drive shaft operating at flywheel speed, Kinergy transfers torque directly through its containment wall, using magnetic gearing and coupling.
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