UK technology business Evove has signed a Joint Development Agreement with Meta Additive, part of the Desktop Metal family, to produce an advanced additive manufacturing solution for 3D printing its ceramic Separonic membranes.
Part of Evove’s development plan for the SeparonicsTM product line (precision engineered 3D printed membranes) is to create a blueprint that will underpin the global roll-out and establishment of regional manufacturing hubs.
“The signing of this collaboration agreement with UK-based Meta Additive is an important milestone in the commercialisation of our Separonics product line”, commented Chris Wyres, CEO of Evove. “They are recognised as a pioneer in the additive manufacturing sector and we are delighted to be working together to utilise their proprietary binder jet and materials technology. With a scalable and cost-effective manufacturing capability, we will deliver ceramic membranes with transformational performance gains and enhanced utility at a significantly lower carbon cost.”
Meta Additive recently became part of the Desktop Metal group which has set out to make advanced 3D printing accessible to all engineers, designers and manufacturers around the world. Their systems range from smaller scale units for rapid prototyping, to industrial scale systems for high-speed mass production.
“This is a powerful alliance of two successful high-tech UK companies”, commented Simon Scott, CEO of Meta Additive. “We utilise binder jet technology along with novel functional binders to provide advanced additive manufacturing solutions that will tackle current and future challenges. We are confident that our products will enable Evove to eliminate the issues associated with traditional ceramic manufacturing techniques, including shrinkage, energy intensive thermal processing and slow production speeds”
The project will commence with the production of ceramic membranes. They have distinct advantages, especially in harsh environment with hot and acidic fluids, but up to now have been fragile in operation and costly to manufacture.
“3D printing ceramic Separonics with Meta’s AM technologies using the latest in material science means we can effectively eliminate the challenges, high cost and carbon footprint associated with traditional ceramic manufacturing processes”, explained Wyres. “Furthermore, 3D printing allows us to produce novel precision engineered architectures that optimise the fluid dynamics and integrity of the membrane, delivering truly game-changing performance, reducing energy usage for filtration and separation, and extending membrane lifetime”, he continued.
Evove are aiming to establish the first full-scale manufacturing process in the northwest of England before the end of 2022, to facilitate industrial testing of ceramic Separonics at a customer’s site shortly thereafter.
