Manufacture and Testing of a Magnetically Suspended 0.5-kWh Flywheel Energy Storage System

This article presents crucial issues regarding the design, manufacture, and testing of a steel rotor for a 0.5-kWh flywheel energy storage system. A prototype was built using standard industrial components. The rotor has a maximum operating speed of 24 000 min
⁻¹
and is magnetically suspended. The introduced critical issues regarding the manufacture include the thermal stress during the rotor hardening process, the fixation for the rotor components of the drive machine and the magnetic bearings, etc. The rotor strength was validated by the overspeed testing according to the standard
IEC 60034-1
. A rotation of up to 28 800 min
⁻¹
(120% of the maximum speed) was realized and maintained for 2 min. The proved rotor was suspended by commercial magnetic bearings in the flywheel system. Despite simple decentralized control, the rotor was successfully driven up to the designed maximum speed. The rotor dynamic behavior is analyzed by analytical calculation, simulation, and measurements. Different eigenmodes are identified. The results prove the possibilities to build and operate a flywheel system using standard industrial components, showing potential for cost-effective designs.