Natick, MA February 8, 2010
For Immediate Release (PDF)

Adam Powell, Chief Technology Officer of Metal Oxygen Separation Technologies (MOxST), will present MOxST's plans for magnesium extraction technology development at the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) Annual Meeting on February 15. Powell will discuss MOxST's Solid Oxide Membrane (SOM) Electrolysis technology for metal production, and the company's goals of scaling up the process to produce hundreds of pounds of magnesium metal in the coming year. Reaching these goals will facilitate MOxST's plans to sell capital equipment for making magnesium.

SOM Electrolysis is a zero-emissions, compact, fully-automated process for making magnesium and other metals. According to an independent cost modeling study conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, SOM Electrolysis produces magnesium at much lower cost than other methods such as chloride electrolysis, silicothermic reduction (the Pidgeon process), and even carbothermic reduction.

Together with research partner Uday Pal at Boston University, inventor of SOM Electrolysis, MOxST has made significant progress on magnesium production in the past year. MOxST has developed three-dimensional multi-physics computer models of the process which allow the company to simulate the operating characteristics of a large-scale industrial electrolysis cell based on the performance of a small cell in the laboratory. And the process can now use low-cost anode materials to produce pure oxygen as a by-product. Much of this work has been supported by a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation, and MOxST has been awarded Department of Energy funding to continue this magnesium project.

Magnesium is the lowest-density engineering metal, and its stiffness, strength, die-casting properties, ease of machining, and recycling potential make it the leading candidate material for replacing steel and aluminum components in order to reduce motor vehicle weight by hundreds of pounds and improve fuel efficiency. Powell will give his talk as part of the TMS Annual Meeting symposium Magnesium Technology 2010, which is the leading gathering of magnesium technology experts from companies, universities, and government laboratories around the world.

About MOxST
MOxST was founded by CEO Steve Derezinski and CTO Adam Powell in 2008 to commercialize clean technologies for metal production. MOxST's SOM Electrolysis process is a patented breakthrough technology for making metals from their oxide ores with low capital, raw material and energy costs and zero chlorine or carbon emissions. In addition to lower industrial emissions and energy use, our metal products will drive innovation of a new generation of energy-efficient vehicles, and will help to accelerate the widespread deployment of solar energy by reducing its cost. Derezinski and Powell bring over 25 years of experience to MOxST in materials process development and technology entrepreneurship.

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