Company

OTurb is a spin-off from the Laboratory for Applied Mechanical Design (LAMD) which is based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and part of the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

OTurb’s area of expertise is:

  • Dynamic gas film bearings (efficient and clean)
    • Foil journal and thrust bearings
    • Herringbone-grooved journal and spiral-grooved thrust bearings
  • High-speed rotor design
    • Rotors between 1e6 to 3e6 mmrpm (rotational speed in rpm times the rotor diameter in mm) successfully tested
    • Rotordynamics
    • Rotor mechanical integrity
    • Rotor thermal analysis
  • High-speed rotor balancing
  • Small-scale turbomachinery design
    • Compressors, blowers, and fans
    • Turbines
    • Turbochargers
  • Integrated system simulation (including detailed turbomachinery and bearing modeling)
    • Heat pump cycles
    • Fuel cell systems
    • (Organic) Rankine cycles
  • Experimental realization of components or systems (prototyping)
  • Assistance for series production

OTurb’s services:

  • Consulting
  • Design and CAD
  • Manufacturing (contacts to leading high-precision manufacturing partners)
  • Prototyping
  • Products:
    • Steam-driven recirculation fan, the fan-turbine unit (FTU), for fuel cell applications
    • Domestic-scale heat pump