PyroGenesis Begins Production of 3D Printing Powders

Provider of plasma waste-to-energy systems and plasma torch products PyroGenesis completed the assembly of a production system for metal powders used in 3D printing and recently carried out the first successful manufacturing run, the Montreal-based company announced Thursday.

“The first production run not only exceeded our expectations in terms of powder quality and production rate,” Pierre Carabin, chief technology officer of PyroGenesis, said in a statement. “but it also marked both the official start of the ramp-up period and a critical step in achieving our stated goal to become a leading supplier of high purity powders to the additive manufacturing industry.”

Developing the system with a $2 million investment made in 2015, PyroGenesis plans to ramp up production over the next four months and said the company’s technology was “the first of many” that it expects to create to cater to the additive manufacturing industry. Powders produced during the ramp-up period will be available for sale, the firm said.

“What is noteworthy, beyond the technical successes announced today, is the continued interest we are receiving for the supply of our powders from potential customers, the volume of which, and from whom the interest is coming from, continues to take us all by surprise,” said P. Peter Pascali, the company’s chief executive officer and president, in a press release. “We did not expect this type of interest before ramp-up was complete, to be very significant, and a further validation of our strategic decision to move into powder production.”

The system uses plasma atomization to produce uniform, fully dense, round metal powders that are in demand by additive manufacturing firms. Its initial run produced a metal powder known as Ti-6AI-4V, but the system can be used to manufacture other materials like Titanium alloys and nickel-based superalloys.

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