University of Birmingham

<p>At the University of Birmingham our research leads to new inventions and fuels innovation and business growth. We produce 6,000 talented and highly employable graduates every year. We play an integral role in the economic, social, and cultural growth of our nation and our region. We generate over £1 billion of regional economic activity each year and support nearly 12,000 jobs.</p>
<p>We’re constantly making exciting breakthroughs - in medicine and engineering, energy and social science - and then making them available to the people who will benefit most. Some of the mechanisms that we use to support businesses and entrepreneurs include access to our intellectual property, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), a Business Club for SMEs, and free incubation space at Birmingham Research Park.</p>
<p>We know that the financial cost of generating the new ideas, technologies and processes to competitive advantage can be high. The University of Birmingham can help you in a variety of ways including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Contract research</li>
<li>Licensing intellectual property</li>
<li>Collaborative projects and partnership</li>
<li>Consultancy with leading academics in their field.</li>
<li>Accelerating Business-Knowledge Base Innovation Activity (ABIA)</li>
<li>Access to state-of-the-art equipment, testing and analysis</li>
<li>Business accommodation</li>
<li>Funding opportunities</li>
<li>Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)</li>
<li>Recruiting University of Birmingham students to work for you</li>
</ul>
<p>Alta Innovations, the technology transfer organisation of the University works with businesses to licence intellectual property and bring the inventions of the University’s academics to market. The University has a significant portfolio of medical, biomedical, engineering and environmental patents which are available for licensing.</p>
<p>Whether you are a large corporate organisation or a small business, and whether you require a short term solution or have a long term project in mind, you can tap into the world-class expertise at the University of Birmingham.</p>
<p>We have an excellent team of enthusiastic Business Engagement Partners waiting to learn more about the challenges you are facing.</p>


<h1 id="background">Background</h1>
<p>Iron contamination of aluminium alloys during recycling limits or prevents reuse of the aluminium in premium applications due to the loss of mechanical properties. There is a significant lack of effective methods to remove iron from aluminium alloys directly.</p>
<h1 id="technology-overview">Technology Overview</h1>
<p>Researchers at the University of Birmingham have developed a method to separate iron-enriched liquids from the molten aluminium alloys using a static magnetic field and a temperature gradient.</p>
<p>The aluminium alloy is placed within a temperature gradient (created by using two or more heaters with differing temperatures), wherein they form two regions: a partially melted region, and a fully liquid region. Applying a static homogeneous magnetic field to the molten alloys for an amount of time allows formation of an iron-enriched liquid layer at the interface between the two regions. The partially melted region will deplete from iron. The iron-enriched liquid layer can be removed directly by various methods (e.g. pouring, ladling or pumping) or by machining after solidification.</p>
<p>The construction of the apparatus shown schematically in <img src="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/assets.in-part.com/technologies/figures/qWckD7hORY2LmRSkufab_ZSR1095%20image.jpg" alt="Figure 1" /> provides for at least two heaters to create a temperature gradient within the aluminium alloy material. The magnet is separated from the heaters by an insulating or cooling layer to prevent overheating of the magnet during operation.</p>
<p>The apparatus might be designed to incorporate a number of improvements or variations, e.g. (i) heaters can be round or tubular to encase the melting crucible; or (ii) the heaters and the magnets can be mobile to move along the elongated alloy samples within the crucible or (iii) the samples can be mobile and move alongside the stationary magnets and heaters. These improvements allow large quantities of alloy to be treated in the timely and efficient manner.</p>
<h1 id="benefits">Benefits</h1>
<ul>
<li>Environmentally friendly</li>
<li>No requirement for a distinct iron containing phase to be present in the alloy</li>
<li>Applicable to all types of aluminium alloys</li>
<li>Does not contaminate the metal</li>
<li>Scalable, with a flexible configuration that can be adapted to suit large-scale processes</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="applications">Applications</h1>
<p>The technology has the potential to be applied in aluminium recycling processing and aluminium fabrication, in particular for automotive, aerospace and other applications where recycled material is not currently used.</p>
<h1 id="opportunity">Opportunity</h1>
<p>Seeking development partners and/or licensees.</p>
<p>ZSR1095</p>
