Australian technology delivers low-cost magnesium

CSIRO and Enirgi Group have joined forces to develop and commercialise an affordable and low-emission technology for producing magnesium metal.

Magnesium is the lightest of all metals and is in rising demand from car manufacturers, who are turning to the metal as a solution for making lightweight, low-emission vehicles.

The CSIRO-developed technology, known as MagSonic, produces magnesium using up to 80% less energy and up to 60% lower carbon dioxide emissions using carbothermal reduction and a supersonic nozzle.

The process invlolves heating magnesia with carbon to extreme temperatures to produce magnesium vapour and carbon monoxide. The vapour and carbon monoxide are passed through a supersonic nozzle — similar to a rocket engine — at four times the speed of sound to cool the gases in milliseconds, condensing and solidifying the magnesium vapour to magnesium metal.

Once the technology is proven ready for commercialisation, Enirgi Group has the option to take up an exclusive global licence that would see the company initially build a commercial-scale magnesium production facility in Australia.

Dr Mark Cooksey, who leads CSIRO’s sustainable process engineering group, said the commercialisation of MagSonic would help take advantage of Australia’s abundant reserves of magnesite ore that remain largely untapped.

“The growth of magnesium use has been limited because it’s been too expensive and labour-intensive to produce the metal from ore using traditional processes,” Dr Cooksey said.

“Our MagSonic technology offers an economically viable solution to overcome these issues and make clean magnesium more available and affordable to manufacturers.”

“The flow-through benefits to emerging industries like electric vehicle manufacturing are enormous, not to mention a substantial reduction in carbon emissions when compared to current magnesium production processes,” said Enirgi Group’s vice president of corporate development, Anthony Deal.