A U.K. technology company with a solid-state process to produce valuable alloy powders is powering up the world’s first commercial plant at its Materials Manufacturing Centre in Wath upon Dearne, South Yorkshire, U.K.
Since Metalysis’s mechanical completion of the Generation 4 (“Gen4”) project, it has undergone hot commissioning, trial runs, optimization and handover to operations. The handover signifies Metalysis’ transition into commercial production following more than a decade of phased technology development.
Gen4 is the first facility to take Metalysis’ solid-state, modular, electrochemical process to industrial scale and can produce tens-to-hundreds of tonnes per annum of high value, niche, and master alloys. It creates a new U.K. source of supply for global end-users in advanced manufacturing disciplines including aerospace, automotive, batteries, light-weighting, magnets, mining and 3D printing consumables.
Metalysis’ technology has multi-metal capability, which enables the company to produce a mix of titanium alloys — master alloy “recipes”, including Scandium-Aluminide, which continues to pose excellent launch product potential, as announced on 11 June 2018; compositionally complex alloys including High Entropy Alloys; magnet materials; high temperature materials; and Platinum Group Metal alloys.
“In powering up and operating our industrial plant, Metalysis is poised to achieve its target to generate significant profits from our new South Yorkshire production facility,” said Dr. Dion Vaughan, chief executive officer. “Ours is a true British success story with international implications. Metalysis has grown from the ‘lightbulb moment’ at Cambridge University in the late-1990s, relocated to South Yorkshire to benefit from regional excellence in operational skillsets in the early-2000s, and now onwards towards a bright commercial future.”
