Magnetic levitation technology has been widely used for high-speed trains, but now the technology broadened its territory into the display and semiconductor field in Korea. KERI, the Korea Electronic Research Institute, applied magnetic levitation technology to the high-tech display industry, by developing magnetic levitation clean lift, in 2008. Recently, they have accomplishing a great deal through the technology transfer with the SFA Engineering Corporation.
SFA Engineering, which is a provider of total solution for automation systems, has concluded a supply agreement for 'magnetic levitation clean lift' with BOE, a Chinese firm.Magnetic Levitation Clean Lift (MLCL) acts as sort of a freight elevator, which transports LCD or semiconductor plate. By using this technology in established industrial environments, some problems have been reduced or eliminated, such as noise, vibration and dust. The transfer speeds have also increased, improving production efficiency.
Quality improvement, cost reduction and production improvment are strong motivators for deploying the MLCL solution. In addition, because MLCL doesn't generate friction, it can transfer parts 3 times faster than the existing facility, at nearly 200m per a minute.
The lift capacity of this system is 800kg, vibration is 0.003G and noise is just 60 dB, which corresponds to a normal office noise figure.
According to an official from SFA, they are planning to implement MLCL at the BOE facility between October 2010 and January 2011. They have set a goal of reaching KRW 10 billion in sales in 2011. By expanded their export region to include Taiwan, SFA has given themselves a better chance to acheive the goal.
The domestic market for MLCL is expected to reach to KRW 100 billion, while the market globally is expected to go to KRW 400 billion. Due to the bright outlook of the industry, SFA could expect to benefit by increased sales and KERI would enjoy additional royalties.
KERI is responsible for many other technologies related to magnetic levitation, so the possibility of technology transfers and additional sales are high.
Besides MLCL, KERI co-developed the EMS (Electric Monorail System), also with SFA. They have worked on the commercialization of the cylindrical NANO Process and Equipment Technology for the first time.
"To apply the magnetic levitation technology to the industry, what you needs is to control 3 techniques such as, floating, moving and exact rail guiding." Kang Do-hyun, Executive Director of Industry Application Research Division of KERI stressed. He added, "We already have the world's best technology on vertical magnetic levitation lift technology and semiconductor transfer device. With this, NANO stage field and the magnetic bearing of high-speed rotary machines are going to commercialize soon. Therefore, magnetic levitation technology is expected to grow in the factory automation market more than in the train field. "