The Metalysis process, developed at the company’s plant in Yorkshire, UK, has successfully carried out a series of production runs using rutile feedstock and is now able to produce a range of titanium powders. Using rutile ore1 as a feedstock is a low cost and environmentally benign method of titanium powder production, the company said. The new rutile-derived titanium powder can be used in a variety of new applications to satisfy demand for a low-cost, lightweight, high-strength and corrosion-resistant metal.
In addition to titanium, tantalum and specialist metals (including rare earths), a wide range of innovative "designer" alloys can be produced on a commercial scale with a significantly reduced environmental impact. The process is also suitable for the recycling of strategic metal.
The Metalysis process can also produce alloys that would not be cost effective by traditional processes. It is solid-state, so metals with significantly different densities or melting points can be alloyed. The alloys can be tailored for applications within a range of industries, including automotive, marine, electronics, clean energy and aerospace.
“Metalysis has spent a significant period of time and resource developing a process that can produce titanium powder from a relatively inexpensive feedstock in a single step,” said Guppy Dhariwal, CEO of Metalysis. “We now expect that our process will have a transformational effect on the metals industry through the production of titanium on a greater scale, at a lower cost and in an environmentally benign manner.”
REFERENCES
- Rutile is a naturally occurring titanium ore present in beach sands.