The licensed patent portfolio covers breakthrough motor design technologies that, when combined with Niron Magnetics' rare-earth-free Iron Nitride magnets, enable unprecedented efficiency and performance improvements across diverse applications, including HVAC systems, data center cooling, robotics, pumps, compressors, appliances, automotive traction, and other high-value use cases.
Unlike conventional electric motors, VFMs eliminate the fundamental tradeoff between low-speed and high-speed efficiency. This enables benefits ranging from lower power consumption for data center cooling to greater range and smaller battery pack size in vehicle applications. As a result, VFMs represent a transformative approach to electric machine design that has remained untapped due to the demanding magnetic material requirements, until now.
"This licensing agreement is the result of decades of world-class motor research meeting the best of material science ingenuity to bring next-generation motor performance to commercial reality," says Jonathan Rowntree, CEO of Niron Magnetics. "Our Iron Nitride technology provides the missing piece that accelerates this achievement into industrial scalability, enabling multiple ongoing customer projects that are focused on commercializing breakthrough technology."
Industry leaders agree that this is an important shift in motor design. "Variable Flux Motors have been built and proven before," explains Daniel Hervén, CEO at Alvier Mechatronics, a leading global engineering and motor design firm. "What’s held these motors back is the lack of an ideal material. Rare earth magnets are not well-suited for this motor type. Until now, most VFM work was done with AlNiCo, but VFMs with AlNiCo magnets fall short of the performance needed for commercial use, and cobalt faces supply chain challenges. Iron Nitride presents the opportunity to unlock VFM for mainstream commercial use."
The advancement of these innovative motors comes at a critical time. As geopolitical tensions rise and demand for critical materials increases, Niron Magnetics' magnets, made domestically from Iron Nitride and containing no rare earths, solve the problem of volatile rare earth supply chains for critical applications. The fully domestically sourced magnets, combined with the motor design expertise of Niron Magnetics and its partners, are poised to both deliver significant performance improvements and secure a strong American motor industrial base.
This is an important development as Niron Magnetics is scaling the world’s first advanced manufacturing process for the mass production of permanent magnets powered by its Iron Nitride proprietary technology that inherently enables high magnetization.
Niron Magnetics was awarded a $52.2 million tax credit under the Section 48C Advanced Energy Project tax credit program to advance the construction of the world's only manufacturing facility of these magnets in Sartell, Minnesota. This award follows a competitive process led by the Departments of Energy and Treasury, which evaluated the company's technical, commercial, and environmental merit.
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