Millions of cylinders are used in production plants. They open flaps, push packages off conveyor belts and close valves. Until now, most have been driven by compressed gas, generated upstream by electrically powered compressors. Pneumatic cylinders work reliably, but at a high cost: only a fraction of the output energy is used mechanically, while about half is dissipated as heat.
Jeremias Wehrli, the future CEO of Cyltronic AG – founded in 2020 – knew there had to be a better way. The mechanical engineer teamed up with other graduates from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) to develop a cylinder that is driven by electricity and only requires about ten percent of the energy consumed by its pneumatic counterpart. Electric cylinders are compact and replace pneumatic cylinders one to one without any need to adjust the machine control. The additional costs of the new cylinders are amortised in just a few years through the savings in electricity consumption. Ideally, of course, electric cylinders are not retrofitted but built in during a machine’s manufacture.
Cyltronic successfully tested the electric cylinders in a number of production plants and developed them further until they were market ready. The products’ market potential is good and appeals to investors, too: the company raised several million Swiss francs in various financing rounds. The electric cylinders are sold directly in Switzerland and Germany, and through distribution partners in France, Italy and several Central European countries. Car manufacturers such as BMW and Audi have already been won over by these energy-efficient production aids.
Cyltronic AG
