Sapphire's high lift compressors deliver high lift performance to air- and water-cooled chillers.
Full capacity in extreme heat, up to 140°F ambient
No oil anywhere in the system
Turndown optimized throughout operating range
Heat is rejected to ambient air with no water consumption, enabling compact, modular chiller designs. Local ambient temperatures around these chillers can exceed 130°F, creating a high lift performance requirement that most compressors cannot meet: they lose capacity and efficiency as operating conditions move far off design.
Sapphire's high lift compressors are built for this segment. Magnetic bearings and a high-speed permanent magnet motor keep the compressor operating to 140°F ambient and hold efficiency in extreme heat.
A cooling tower holds chiller operating temperature low and steady, so the compressor always runs near its design point. These systems deliver efficient baseload cooling but can consume millions of gallons of water per year and carry additional capital cost for towers, pumps, and water treatment.
As data centers replace cooling towers with dry coolers to cut water use, condensing temperatures rise and the chiller needs a high lift compressor to keep capacity. Sapphire's high lift compressor retrofits into these plants with the same oil-free, magnetic bearing architecture, and its onboard active front-end drive keeps harmonics within IEEE 519 limits without external filters.
Component 01 of 03
Two-stage centrifugal impellers are driven by a high-speed permanent-magnet motor riding on non-contact active magnetic bearings. Backup bearings protect the rotor through power interruptions and transient events, supporting reliable operation during demanding start, stop, and restart conditions. There is no oil: no oil-management system, no oil fouling, and no oil-related performance degradation over the life of the compressor.
Component 02 of 03
A high-speed permanent magnet synchronous motor drives the impellers directly, with no gearbox or coupling. The motor operates at variable speed to match load, so the compressor turns down efficiently at part load rather than cycling. Rare earth magnets and a large air gap deliver high efficiency and high power density in a compact hermetic package.
Component 03 of 03
The rotor is levitated on non-contact active magnetic bearings (AMBs) designed and built in house. Position sensors and a digital controller adjust the bearing electromagnets thousands of times per second, so the rotor spins with no friction, no oil, and no wear. Auxiliary bearings catch the rotor during power loss, and the bearing system provides continuous condition monitoring of the machine.
A single-shaft rotor carries two-stage centrifugal impellers on a high-speed permanent magnet motor, delivering refrigeration capacity in a compact package with no gearbox and no oil.
Magnetic bearings remove oil from the refrigerant loop entirely. There is no oil to degrade heat exchanger performance, no oil management system to maintain, and no oil-related performance drift over the life of the machine.
The compressor is engineered for air-cooled plants, holding capacity deep into extreme ambient conditions with a broad operating envelope.
With no contact between rotating parts in normal operation, there is no scheduled oil change and no bearing replacement interval, reducing overhaul requirements versus oil-lubricated machines.
The compressor is a factory-built, modular machine. Units ship ready to install and can be commissioned within standard chiller-plant construction schedules.
