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The use of resource critical materials such as rare earth magnets in electrical machines has a negative impact on resource efficiency and production costs. Strict EU efficiency standards have led to the use of rare earth magnets in rotors in modern circulating pumps and thus represents the state of the art. This paper presents a resource saving design for circulating pumps. The combination of a synchronous reluctance motor with integrated ferrite magnets in the flux barriers of the rotor and a new thin-walled can provide a good basis for improving resource efficiency and power density.

Electric drives need approximately 65% of the electricity consumed by the European industry to drive pumps, fans, compressors and so on [1]. The classic induction motor has been the workhorse of the industry for decades. However, this type of motor has significant losses in efficiency, especially in the low power range considered here. Consequently, the increase of energy efficiency of electric machines is a main point in the worldwide efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. However, the cost of new efficient technologies are still a main selling point. This paper presents an impressively simple energy-and resource saving as well as low cost design for synchronous reluctance machines in the low power range.

A circulation pump is an integrated unit, consisting of a hydraulic part for transmitting energy to the medium and a driving canned electric motor. Circulation pumps are used in residential and office buildings as well as in production and storage halls for the transport of heating or cooling water. More than 140 million circulation pumps are installed in Europe alone. Due to this high number of pumps used, the potential for CO2 reduction by increasing the energy efficiency of this pumps is correspondingly high. This has been recognized by the European Union, which has now set high efficiency standards for circulation pumps. The regulation has led to the fact, that today synchronous motors with cost-intensive and resource critical rare-earth magnets are state of the art. This paper presents a new energy- and resource saving design for canned motors of circulation pumps on the basis of the synchronous reluctance machine (SynRM).