Magnetics Business & Technology - Spring 2016 - (Page 4)

EDITOR'S CHOICE Ultra Small, Custom Inductor for Acoustic Tags to Track Migration Patterns of Fish In recent years, acoustic tags have become the standard in fish telemetry for the study of the behavior of fish in research for example focusing on fish migration, fish predator and prey dynamics, fish dam - bypass survival rates, among others that can use acoustic tag applications. A supplier of acoustic telemetry equipment contracted CET Technology to develop and manufacture an ultra small inductor for use in a 7 mm diameter acoustic transmitter for the study of salmon smolts and juvenile species, focusing on improving the survival rates for the animals as they move through at hydroelectric dams. According to Michelle Farnum, Business Manager at CET Technology, "Our client came to us with an interesting and challenging project from the perspective of designing custom magnetics. They needed to greatly reduce the size of the components to fit into a small implantable sensor." The acoustic transmitter consists of a piezo-electric transducer, drive and timing electronics, and a high performance battery to power the device which is encapsulated in a waterproof 7 mm diameter cylindrical package. "The customer was using a pot core shaped inductor that had a number of limitations. The size exceeded the packaging requirements and the pot core was far too heavy for this application. They had been using a gapped pot core to get the 2 mH inductance they needed. The inductor is part of an RLC resonant frequency circuit operating at 69 kHz and the 2 mH inductance is fairly important. The issue with using a gapped core was that any applied pressure to the inductor created small changes in the gap distance. This, in turn, altered the inductance leading to issues with their resonant circuit," she added. The engineers of CET Technology designed a toroidal solution, which has no gap in the core. The main obstacles were determining a) the toroidal shape and b) the needed turns to avoid saturation. Using the needed number of turns with a typical ferrite core (like the pot core that they had been using) would be problematic because a core generally has a high AL value. This means the inductance would greatly surpass the desired 2 mH. By using a low AL valued toroidal shape core and the correct turns to avoid saturation, CET was able to achieve the 2 mH inductance with less than a 10 percent variation. New Critical Materials Supplies Crucial for Clean Technology Transition Avalon Rare Metals, Inc. is pleased to provide commentary on the recently concluded 2015 Paris Climate Conference and the implications of the agreement reached for critical materials demand. After a two week conference and over four years of lead-up negotiation, 195 countries agreed to adopt the Paris Agreement to jointly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. Signatories have committed to limit temperature rises "well below" 2˚C compared to pre-industrial times, while striving to limit temperatures to 1.5 degrees. Furthermore, it has been agreed that individual countries will maintain and publish greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. The foremost action needed to make this commitment a reality is a massive reduction in the use of fossil fuels for transportation and energy production with a corresponding shift to clean technology enabled by Government policy initiatives, supported by public and private investment. Lithium Ion rechargeable battery technology will play a leading role in enabling the required energy storage solutions. High purity specialty engineered lithium chemicals are vital to this technology, but they have few current supply sources. Lithium chemicals are just one example of the numerous new critical material demands presented by clean technology and energy development. Goldman Sachs recently released a report titled, The Low Carbon Economy: GS Sustain equity investor's guide to a low carbon world 2015-2020, to coincide with the conference which states that 2015 will be a "watershed year" for low carbon technologies and one that could have a significant impact on the lithium-ion battery supply chain and its critical raw materials lithium, graphite and cobalt. They believe that congregating forces of political support, economic viability, and the need for new industries and jobs, is "tipping the scales" and taking the "training wheels off of the low carbon economy". 4 Magnetics Business & Technology * Spring 2016 Volume 15, Issue 1 Editor & Publisher David Webster Director of Content Nick Depperschmidt Senior Editor Shannon Given Associate Editor Heather Williams Contributing Editor Stan Trout News Editors Sue Hannebrink, Scott Webster, Robert Schaudt, Judy Lamare Director of Support Services/Circulation Marc Vang Databases/Directories Ross Webster Advertising and Sales Scott Webster, Advertising Sales Manager Production Julie Hammond Webmaster William Lawrence Administration Marsha Grillo, Director Magnetics Business & Technology (ISSN #1535-1998) is a publication of Webcom Communications Corp. Subscriptions for one year are free for the qualified US, $44.00 non-qualified US and $60.00 outside US. Single copies are $20.00 each plus shipping. Back issues are available for $20.00. Payment must be made in US funds in order to process the order. Direct all subscription inquiries, orders and address changes to Fulfillment Services. Reprints: For reprint requests contact Webcom Communications at 720-528-3770. © Copyright 2016 Webcom Communications Corp. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without written permission. Requests for permission should be directed to the customer service manager. Webcom Communications Corp. 7355 E. Orchard Road, Ste. 100 Greenwood Village, CO 80111 Phone 720-528-3770 Fax 720-528-3771 www.MagneticsMagazine.com www.MagneticsMagazine.com http://www.MagneticsMagazine.com http://www.MagneticsMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Magnetics Business & Technology - Spring 2016

Editor's Choice
Permanent Magnets in a Changing World Market
Design Considerations Using Permanent Magnets
Insulated Iron Powders, SMC, Current State and Future Possibilities
Research & Development
The Design of a Permanent Magnet Motor for a Direct Drive Fan Application
Tailoring of Pole Shapes of Multipolar Injection Molded Magnets
Electromagnetics
Industry News
Marketplace / Advertising Index
Spontaneous Thoughts: Seventeen Mistakes People Make with Permanent Magnets

Magnetics Business & Technology - Spring 2016