Designing touch-down bearings (TDB) for outer rotor flywheels operated under high vacuum conditions constitutes a challenging task. Due to their large diameters, conventional TDB cannot suited well, and a planetary design is applied, consisting of a number of small rolling elements distributed around the stator. Since the amplitude of the peak loads during a drop-down lies close to the static load rating of the bearings, it is expected that their service life can be increased by reducing the maximum forces. Therefore, this paper investigates the influence of elastomer rings around the outer rings in the TDB using simulations. For this purpose, the structure and the models used for contact force calculation in the ANEAS simulation software are presented, especially the modelling of the elastomers. Based on the requirements for a TDB in a flywheel application, three different elastomers (FKM, VMQ, EPDM) are selected for the investigation. The results of the simulations show that stiffness and the type of material strongly influence the maximum force. The best results are obtained using FKM, leading to a reduction of the force amplitude in a wide stiffness range.

Modern electronics systems consist of not only with the power electronics converters, but also with the friendly user interface which allow you to read the operating parameters and change them. The simplest solution of the user interface is to use alphanumeric display which displays information about the state of the converter. With a few additional buttons you can change the settings. This solution is simple, inexpensive but allows only local control (within walking distance from the system) and the number of displayed information is low. You can create extensive menu, but it causes problems with access to information. This paper presents the example of a rotating energy storage universal solution which is lack of the above mentioned disadvantages.

Department of Electrical Drive and Industrial Equipment University of Science and Technology (AGH) The article describes the method of determining mechanical losses and electromagnetic motor torque on the example of a flywheel energy storage system utilizing BLDC motor. The description of the test stand contains: the topology of power factor correction boost rectifier, an inverter supplying the BLDC motor, and the measuring system. The detailed experimental results are included in the paper.

The paper reports on investigation and development of a flywheel device intended for an energy storage prototype. The goal was to design and experimentally verify the concept of self-integrated flywheel with smart control of energy flow and accumulation. The Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) must has high energy efficiency and structural robustness. Investigation on structural dynamics of the composite flywheel connected with outer type rotor was carried out using Finite Element Method. The FESS is designed to run in vacuum and is supported on low-energy, controlled, active magnetic bearings (AMBs). The flywheel device of 10 MJ energy density and a weight of 150 kg with two integrated rotors/generators of 50 kW power density each is intended to operate up to 40 000 rpm.