Study and control of a magnetic bearing for flywheel energy storage system

The purpose of this study is to develop a suspension system for a low-cost flywheel energy storage system. This suspension system is composed of two identical magnetic bearings mounted at the end of the flywheel. Due to a specific design of these magnetic bearings, it has the particularity to have only one active axis (sustentation). The others (centering) are passively stable. The control of the suspension is therefore limited to one axis. After a short description of the system, this paper presents the achievement of the control and all the elements needed to achieve it, within the scope of energy storage, therefore leading to a minimal energy consumption in the bearings.