PeopleFlo launched an internal project, code named Carbon, to develop new designs and manufacturing techniques for containment shells used in magnetic couplings. The plan is to design shells using a composite of:
- PEEK (Poly-Ether-Ether-Ketone) thermoplastic, which is well-known in the pump industry has having excellent chemical resistance and suitable for a wide temperature range, and
- carbon-fiber, in continuous or very-long-strand form, which possesses tremendous strength,
and to develop low-cost production methods to make them.
Shells constructed from such a composite have the potential to have very advantageous properties, including:
- no eddy-current generation, nor the energy loss and heat build-up that eddy currents normally produce,
- very high strength, to handle high pressures,
- a very thin shell wall, to minimize magnetic cost and maximize coupling torque,
- compatibility with a broad range of fluids and temperatures,
- minimal cost premium compared to metallic Alloy C shells (the industry standard).
PeopleFlo intends on using this shell technology in multiple active mag-drive pump projects. Additionally, they will be seeking new applications with pump OEMs looking to improve their mag-drive offerings.