The world's first magnetic levitation elevator was installed in Italy, built on the basis of technology developed by a group of young Italian entrepreneurs who, as students, had participated in 2016 in the tender for the super-fast Hyperloop train by Elon Musk, a project now continued by several companies and still in the research phase.
"So far there have been only prototypes, but a commercial project had never been presented," said Luca Cesaretti, founder of the Ironlev company with Lorenzo Parrotta and with the inventor of technology Adriano Girotto. "The next step - he added - is to continue in the applications in the transport sector. The lift is the beginning, then we believe we can move on to short-range transport systems, such as shuttles for large shopping centers and airports, or even for connections between airports and cities and therefore to trains ".
The heart of the magnetic levitation device in blue (source: Ironlev)
The technology, called 'passive ferromagnetic levitation', is based on a magnetic flow that flows in a steel bar: "It is a geometry that borders the magnetic field inside the levitation shoe, while outside the magnetic field is practically null ", Cesaretti observed. The technology also allows to halve energy consumption as there is no longer the problem of friction of the sliding guides.
The magnetic levitation lift (source: Ironlev)
Magnetically anchored to traditional steel guides, the levitation system supports the load of the cabin, eliminating friction and noise due to rubbing. "By eliminating the contact - said Girotto - the energy required for operation and maintenance costs are reduced". In operation at the same company that built it, in Spresiano (Treviso), the lift marks the arrival of Italian technology on the most used means of transport in the world and the first step to "democratize magnetic levitation" so that it can be applied on trams, subways, high-speed trains.
