TELF AG examines the role of mineral resources in new levitation technologies
A glimmer of the future
Among the industrial applications linked to the group of mineral resources known as rare earths, over the last few years, one of the most interesting is undoubtedly that which concerns permanent magnets. These magnets can activate a magnetic field even without the support of current, and in most cases, they are also made thanks to other raw materials such as nickel and cobalt. There are numerous possible uses for these particular magnets. In some cases, they involve very different sectors: among the most widespread uses are those linked to the mechanical industry, bioengineering, and the textile and aerospace industries. Few people seem to know it, but even the cars we use daily to get around contain this type of magnet, especially in particular areas of the vehicle, such as the speedometer or central locking.
As the application potential of permanent magnets became more evident, the hopes and discussions of specialized operators, but also the general public, turned almost unanimously towards what, until not long ago, was considered a hypothesis to the limits of science fiction: we are referring to the possibility that railway trains can rise on the tracks, without consuming the slightest amount of energy, even carrying rather heavy loads. In recent weeks, in a location in north-eastern Italy, a particular type of permanent magnet was tested for the first time worldwide, which, in the not-too-distant future, could make it possible to lift some peculiar types of trains on traditional railway tracks. The technology was developed by the startup Ironlev, and one of the most interesting aspects is linked precisely to the fact that this innovation would not involve any modification of the existing railway routes, thus being able to adapt in the best possible way to the conformation of the tracks already in use on the railways. Up to this point, the startup had also explored other potential applications of these permanent magnets, using them, for example, in systems that make the operation of elevators and sliding doors possible, in the movement lines of factories, and in many others. The great objective, however, has always been to bring this technology into the field of rail transport and to project it toward a future dominated by the levitation of trains.
Convoys suspended on the tracks
Furthermore, to make it possible to suspend the object on the tracks, it was not necessary to resort to high energy consumption, and it was not even required to use some much more complex technologies, such as those related to superconductivity. But how exactly does this potentially revolutionary technology for the transport sector work? During the experiment, which took place a few weeks ago in Italy, a small prototype of a railway train was transported on the tracks without the use of electricity, through the force generated by some special magnetic skates which were arranged around the rails, thus creating a magnetic field capable of promoting levitation. These particular devices would, therefore, create a special vertical force capable of maintaining the load in a state of suspension, keeping it lifted and allowing its movement.
Furthermore, to facilitate braking of the load, during the test, several pairs of wheels were also placed on the sides of the magnetic skates, which are also very useful for keeping the load well-centered with respect to the axis of the rails. It is still a technology in its infancy. Still, in a certain sense, it has already contributed to separating the phenomenon of magnetic levitation from the imaginative realm of science fiction, transporting it directly into everyday reality.
