The turbine: the air motor packing maximum efficiency
Great power-weight ratio while also delivering high revolution rates in continuous operation
What happens when the power from your drive unit simply isn’t enough? When the motor for your robot-controlled plant has to supply maximum power yet has to be physically very small? When it has to produce very high revolution speeds, yet be fit for continuous operation? The automatic processes used to manufacture today’s modern materials place heavy demands on the equipment that drives them. Plant engineers often anguish over the choice of motor to carry out the job. Technical journalist and editor Trixy Schmidt talked to two prominent plant engineers to find out more. During the interview the Managing Director of DEPRAG, Dr. Rolf Pfeiffer, and air motors product manager, Dagmar Dübbelde, provided an intriguing answer: in some applications, a pneumatically driven turbine, with its excellent power-weight ratio, is the ideal solution to the problem of motor selection.
Trixy Schmidt: If I am a plant engineer in search of the ideal motor for my application I basically have to decide whether the drive for my motor should be pneumatic or electric? DEPRAG boasts decades of experience in the production of air motors but in the screw fastening sector it also makes use of electric screwdrivers. What are the advantages of compressed air as an operating fluid?
Dr. Rolf Pfeiffer: Ever since the days of mining and tunnelling operations in the 19th century air tools have represented a great success story. In atmospheres at risk of firedamp where a single spark could cause an explosion it would have been unthinkable to use an electric motor. The same is true today. Wherever there is a risk of explosion - for example in the bulk materials handling systems as used in the chemicals industry - the air motor will come into its own. The other side of the coin is that air motors can also be sterilised and are therefore used within the medical technology industry.
Dagmar Dübbelde: Moreover, due to their simple structure air motors and pneumatic tools are immune to dirt and humidity and can be operated under full load down to standstill without damage. However the most significant advantage is that for the required drive output they are a third to a fifth lighter and are more compact than their electric counterparts. Air motors can also be found carrying out automated tasks, for example fastening screws.
