ERA Technology Ltd. is helping Boulder Wind Power, Inc. (BWP) accelerate development of a radical new permanent magnet generator through use of advanced electromagnetic design software. Based on a permanent magnet, direct drive design, BWP's generator uses a unique axial flux, air-core architecture that increases efficiency and reliability, and will ultimately reduce the cost of wind generated electricity to compete at parity with fossil fuels. In support of the initial engineering studies taken on at the company's formation in early 2010, BWP chose to use the three-dimensional (3D) version of the Opera electromagnetic simulator from the Vector Fields Software range of Cobham Technical Services. BWP cites the software's accuracy, the ease with which its analytical capabilities can be adapted to suit specific requirements, and Cobham's willingness to collaborate in further developing key areas such as dynamic modeling as the primary factors behind its choice. Like all permanent magnet direct drive wind turbines, the generator rotor of BWP's 3.0MW design turns at about 13 revolutions per minute, necessitating a high pole count. Opera's advanced solvers allow high periodicity to be leveraged, so that the analytical model can be a fraction of the size of the complete generator - significantly reducing simulation times. This is particularly important for BWP because it makes exclusive use of the 3D version of Opera, which is necessarily more computationally demanding than the 2D version. While many wind turbine designers employ two- dimensional simulation for the main components in a generator, and only use three-dimensional simulation for elements such as the end turns on windings, BWP's designers must use full 3D simulation at every stage, in order to model the generator's novel architecture as accurately as possible.

ERA Technology Ltd. helps designers of electric motors and generators use finite element analysis (FEA) techniques to accelerate product development and improve design accuracy. The presentation will also be of interest to electromagnetic and electromechanical analysts, as well as engineers who are currently using analytical design packages for rotating machines. Titled Introduction to Rotating Electrical Machine Design using Opera;, the presentation outlines how Cobham's low frequency electromagnetic simulation software enables designers to improve the performance of motors and generators to meet specific economic, efficiency and operating environment targets. Making extensive use of graphics, it covers all key areas of FEA and is ideal for people who are new to the subject. In Opera, current carrying conductors are represented using coils; Opera 3D provides a comprehensive library of standard coil forms such as solenoids, racetracks and bedsteads. If the required coil is not in the library, it can be represented by a continuous combination of bars, arcs and bricks. Scripting facilities enable users to create libraries of commonly used coils for a particular machine very easily.

has announced this month that it has opened a new office in the regional business hub of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The new office will allow ERA to further support the needs of its fast growing customer base in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and across the wider Middle East and beyond. Organizations look to ERA to add value to their operations, ensuring functional safety, resilience and efficiency of their capital assets and systems. Albert Richardson, who has been appointed as General Manager of the Abu Dhabi office.