Royal IHC Bags DPC Innovation Award for PM Motor

Royal IHC has been awarded a DPC Innovation Award for its open permanent magnet (PM) motor for use in deep-sea environments.

The DPC Innovation Awards ceremony was held on 10 November and consisted of 13 categories.

The most innovative and forward-thinking projects that the dredging and port construction industry has to offer were appraised and IHC won the ‘New Environments Award.’

Manager Research and Development IHC Mining, Wiebe Boomsma, said: “The special motor is a permanent magnet (PM) motor specially developed for use in deep-sea and sensitive environments. The motor is open to the surrounding environment and filled with sea water. Therefore, the bearings, stator and rotor run in sea water. The motor is 100% oil-free, which makes it environmentally friendly for extreme depths.”

IHC has successfully tested a prototype of this innovative special motor for use in a deep-sea environment, with extensive tests were conducted as part of the EU-subsidised Blue Mining Project.

After being thoroughly evaluated in a laboratory environment, the motor was shipped to Norway for sea trials where it continually operated to depths of 420m.

The new remotely operated PM motor is being developed for maximum efficiency in deep-sea conditions, and commercially will target sizes ranging up to 1MW as a standard motor and 500kW as a dredge-pump motor.

Its minimal footprint, makes it the smallest in its class.