Ballona Arboretum
Year: 2015-2021
Office: Mainspring Energy
Manager: John Lawler
Role: Staff Mechanical Engineer, LEM Team
Mainspring Energy is developing a linear generator technology for distributed, on-site, fuel-flexible power generation. Enabled by advanced controls and electronic systems, synchronized oscillators take advantage of high stroke-to-bore ratios to enable high efficience and near-zero emissions.
The Linear Electromagnetic Machine (LEM) is the power conversion device that converts mechanical energy into electricity for export to building loads via power electronics that normalize AC currents to match grid-based power signatures. The oscillator, a high precision assembly of steel, neodymium magnets, and tensioned Kevlar fiber, reciprocates through the stator, a construction of steel laminations and copper coils, while riding on air bearings.
Various patents, including:
U.S. Patent US11404937B2: “Integrated Linear Generator System”, August 2, 2022 (Publication)
U.S. Patent U S10985641B2: “Linear Electromagnetic Machine System With Bearing Housings Having Pressurized Gas”, April 4 20, 2021 (Publication)
Photography by Spencer Lowell for Bloomberg Green.