Runtech Systems has expanded its EP Turbo Blower portfolio with a new model featuring Active Magnetic Bearing (AMB) technology, marking a significant step forward in vacuum system reliability, energy efficiency, and tolerance to harsh papermaking environments.
The new AMB-enabled design aligns with the industry’s growing need for equipment that minimizes maintenance demands, withstands contamination, and operates efficiently across rapidly changing machine conditions.
For years, Runtech’s vacuum system philosophy has shifted the industry away from fixed vacuum levels and oversized installations.
Instead of adding more vacuum, Runtech applies vacuum precisely where needed through variable speed EP Turbo Blowers, optimized doctoring and save all systems, supported by EcoFlow online dewatering measurements.
This integrated approach stabilizes runnability, prevents energy waste, and reduces drying costs by ensuring that vacuum responds dynamically to the process rather than relying on static setpoints.
This adaptive philosophy is increasingly important as papermaking processes become more challenging. Machine speed, basis weight and felt condition vary continuously, yet many mills still operate with vacuum systems sized 40-60% above actual requirements.
New machines are commonly over-dimensioned and fixed vacuum settings often lock mills into inefficient operating modes for most of the felt lifecycle.
At the same time, many mills face rising maintenance costs and reduced manpower availability. These trends have created strong demand for equipment that can run reliably with less attention while still delivering high performance.
“Working closely with our customers helps understand their pain points and we wanted to address them. With Active Magnetic Bearings, the rotor is levitated in a magnetic field and supported without any physical contact. This operation is frictionless and eliminates the need for oil lubrication and removing the risk of oil leakage. The absence of wear surfaces significantly reduces maintenance requirements, which is particularly valuable for mills operating with limited technical staff” – says Aleksi Salmi, Engineering Manager, Runtech Systems.
The oil free design also aligns with the broader industry shift toward energy-efficient and operator-friendly, environmentally sustainable technologies.
A new dynamic with Active Magnetic Bearings
“A major advantage of AMB technology is its ability to handle unbalance forces caused by contamination and material carryover. Even with effective pre-separation and drop-separation systems, small amounts of solids inevitably enter the blower and can accumulate on the impeller over time. In normal fixed bearing/rotor systems, this buildup leads to increased vibration, which will reduced bearing lifetime and in that way is harmful in the long run,” Aleksi explains.
“The tolerance against the build-up can be increased but it means re-thinking the bearing system to make it non-fixed. This is how we ended up developing AMB turbo blowers. As rotor position is controllable in AMB system, both static and dynamic positions can be controlled. In AMB system rotor can be rotated around center point of mass. So geometrically rotor orbits, resulting in no vibration and capability to handle high unbalance force. Limiting factor is orbit size.”
Beyond the mechanical benefits, the AMB system incorporates built in position sensors and an advanced digital controller, opening new opportunities for condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.
Because the bearings continuously measure rotor position and magnetic forces, the blower becomes a source of diagnostic data rather than a passive component. This capability complements Runtech’s broader focus on measurement-led vacuum control and supports mills in further optimizing performance.
The result is a vacuum solution that is not only flexible enough to follow the dynamics of the papermaking process, but also robust enough to tolerate contamination and other side effects of daily operation.
By uniting AMB technology with a dry, variable‑speed turbo blower platform, RUNTECH SYSTEMS provides a highly efficient, low‑maintenance, and operator‑friendly alternative to traditional vacuum systems. These advancements support the industry’s shift toward more sustainable, reliable and economically efficient production.
