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Infinitum has launched the Aircore EC+, a motor system designed to address power-quality and reliability challenges in high-demand cooling installations. The new platform combines the company's air-core motor architecture with an integrated drive featuring optional active front end (AFE) harmonic mitigation, allowing facilities to reduce electrical distortion without installing separate harmonic filtering equipment.

The product is particularly aimed at data centers, industrial cooling systems, fans, and pumps, where large numbers of electronically controlled motors can place additional demands on electrical infrastructure. As AI computing expands data-center power consumption, cooling equipment is becoming an increasingly important part of the overall electrical load.

Infinitum's approach is to handle harmonic mitigation inside the motor system rather than treating it as an external electrical problem. The Aircore EC+ builds on the company's existing Aircore EC platform and adds features intended for installations where available power capacity, uptime, and maintenance requirements are tightly controlled.

Harmonic distortion is a familiar issue for facilities operating large numbers of variable-speed drives and electronically commutated motors. Conventional drive systems can draw current in non-sinusoidal waveforms, introducing harmonic currents into the electrical network. At sufficient scale, these currents can contribute to voltage distortion, transformer heating, additional losses, and nuisance protection events.

For facilities designed around a fixed electrical service, the issue is not simply power consumption. Power quality and available electrical capacity can also influence how much additional equipment can be installed without upgrading upstream infrastructure.

The Aircore EC+ addresses this through its integrated AFE option. Unlike a conventional diode-rectifier front end, an active front end uses controlled switching to shape the input current more closely to a sinusoidal waveform. Infinitum says the integrated system can reduce harmonics to levels below IEEE 519 limits, reducing the need for separate passive filters or active harmonic filter cabinets.

That integration could be particularly relevant in data-center cooling applications. Cooling systems often operate continuously and can include hundreds or thousands of motors across fans, pumps, and air-handling equipment. Reducing distortion at the motor level can simplify electrical design while also reducing the amount of additional equipment required in the power distribution system.

The Aircore EC+ also includes several features focused on motor reliability. Infinitum specifies an IP65 enclosure, providing protection against dust and water for installations where the motor may be exposed to harsh environmental conditions.

The system also incorporates a high-resistance ground design and power-loss ride-through capability. These features are intended to help maintain operation during certain electrical disturbances and when equipment is transferred to standby power.

Another important detail is the use of hybrid ceramic bearings. Conventional motor bearings can experience electrical damage when shaft currents generated by drive switching find a path through the bearing. Over time, this can lead to pitting, fluting, premature bearing failure, and increased maintenance requirements.

Because ceramic bearing elements are electrically insulating, they can interrupt that current path. For continuously operating fan and pump equipment, this can be an important consideration when evaluating total maintenance cost rather than simply comparing initial motor prices.

The new motor system also reflects a broader trend toward integrating functions that have traditionally been distributed across multiple pieces of industrial equipment. In a conventional installation, harmonic filtering, motor protection, environmental protection, and drive control may require separate components, cabinets, wiring, and maintenance procedures.

Infinitum is instead placing these functions closer to the motor itself. This can potentially reduce panel space and simplify installation, particularly where large cooling systems must be deployed in facilities with limited electrical and mechanical space.

The company says the Aircore EC+ is available immediately, giving data-center operators and industrial facility designers another option for managing the electrical impact of high-efficiency motorized cooling equipment.

The launch comes as industrial operators increasingly evaluate motor systems not only by efficiency, but also by their impact on power quality, infrastructure capacity, maintenance, and system reliability. For large-scale facilities, those factors can become just as important as the motor's nominal efficiency rating.

From an automation perspective, the development also highlights the growing convergence between motor control and facility power management. As more industrial loads become electronically controlled, integrating power-quality functions directly into drives and motor systems could reduce the need for additional electrical infrastructure while giving engineers greater control over the complete energy chain.

For applications involving high operating hours, dense motor installations, or constrained electrical capacity, the Aircore EC+ therefore represents a different approach to industrial motor and drive integration: instead of adding harmonic mitigation after the drive has been designed, the power-quality function becomes part of the motor system itself.

Written by: Daniel Mercer
Daniel Mercer has more than a decade of experience covering industrial automation, motor control, power electronics, and intelligent manufacturing systems, with a focus on technologies used by OEMs and industrial engineering teams.