Synchrony Technology Blog

As was reported in a recent press release, Synchrony Inc. has reached an agreement to be acquired by Dresser-Rand. We expect that the acquisition will be completed in January 2012, and I would like to provide you now with some details about our plans for the future.   More...

Clean, Efficient, and Reliable. These attributes describe how magnetic bearings are used to improve rotating machinery that conventionally use oil-lubricated bearings. However, it is possible to take things one step further by making a rotating machine ULTRA-reliable. This is done by incorporating redundant elements in the magnetic bearings such that the bearing continues to operate even if one or more elements in the bearings were to fail (fault). A bearing with that level of protecti   More...

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell recently visited Synchrony to learn more about our company, our products, and our customers. After a briefing with management, he toured our research and production facilities and had a chance to informally chat with employees before giving a public speech that was covered by the local media.   More...

Today, there is much public attention placed on reducing the amount of fossil fuel we burn for reasons of energy independence, economics, and environmental sustainability. There are several ways to reduce burning of fossil fuels:   More...

I am often asked about the tradeoffs between using air bearings and magnetic bearings for high speed applications. After all, both are non-contact, oil-less solutions that can improve the performance of rotating machinery. Air bearings also seem less complicated because they don't require active electronics to operate.

I believe that certain applications can benefit from using air bearings instead of magnetic bearings, especially for smaller machines in contamination-free envir   More...

On Monday, January 11, 2010, Congressman Bob Goodlatte visited Synchrony. The congressman had a chance to view our facility and chat with many of our employees. He continues to help spread the word about the new things happening at Synchrony. The McQuay facility in Staunton, Virginia, is also in Congressman Goodlatte's district, so our work in the HVAC industry has special significance to him.

An op-ed article that I submitted to IndustryWeek was published on January 13. The article focused on how magnetic bearings offer a new way for companies to save money by reducing energy consumption and maintenance costs while also providing environmental benefits. Unlike so many other “green” technologies, our “clean” magnetic bearings, high speed electrical machines, and high frequency power conversion systems are available today at price levels   More...

This Sunday, The New York Times ran a story on Synchrony and our Fusion® bearing. The reporter, Anne Eisenberg, did a wonderful job explaining magnetic bearings to the general public and how the Fusion bearing is different from other types of magnetic bearings. The article also included insightful comments from Eric Maslen (University of Virginia), Dave Trumper (MIT), Bill Pizzichil (Baldor), and Jigger Jumonville (Atlas-Copco consulta   More...

Daikin McQuay recently introduced its model WME "frictionless" chiller with Synchrony's magnetic bearings in the size range of 400 - 550 tons. This compliments a smaller "frictionless" chiller that McQuay has been supplying for several years and which has enjoyed success in the HVAC market. We have begun to supply McQuay with 150 drive trains as part of an expected order for 500 drive trains. These 500 drive trains follow an initial run of 75 units that have   More...

At Synchrony, we are passionate about massively increasing the use of magnetic bearings for a broad range of applications. We believe our approach to improving the performance, simplicity, size, and economics allows the machine designer to use magnetic bearings for applications that were previously not feasible. One example is pumps, which are found in large facilities such as oil refineries in quantities of thousands. Bearing failures currently limit the reliability and   More...