Electrical motor system and method of operating the electrical motor system

A method of operating an electrical motor system which comprises a switched reluctance electrical motor comprising a rotor section and a stator section, the rotor section comprising a plurality of rotor teeth and the stator section comprising a plurality of stator teeth, each stator tooth wound with a respective coil, the method comprising the steps of:

• controlling an independent phase of electrical power to each coil of the plurality of stator teeth;
• absorbing, in an inductance of each of the coils of the stator teeth, electrical energy provided to that coil;
• releasing, from the inductance of each of the coils of the stator teeth, at least a portion of the electrical energy when that coil is not being actively driven;
• storing the portion of the electrical energy released back from the inductance of each coil;
• and
• augmenting the electrical energy provided to each coil of the stator teeth by the electrical energy stored.

An electrical motor system comprising:

• a switched reluctance electrical motor comprising a rotor section and a stator section, the rotor section comprising a plurality of rotor teeth and the stator section comprising a plurality of stator teeth wound with a respective coil;
• and
• coil driver circuitry coupled to the coils of the stator teeth to control a phase of electrical power provided to each coil,
• wherein the coil driver circuitry comprises an electrical energy store to store a portion of the electrical energy released back from an inductance of each coil and wherein the coil driver circuitry is arranged to augment the phase of electrical energy provided to each coil with energy from the electrical power store.