PLEA Network

20 July 2016, CSIRO Blog, Supersonic magnesium. It’s used to make our smartphones and cars, and it makes our fireworks go off with a brilliant bang. It’s the third most commonly used structural metal and comprises 2% of Earth’s crust. We are of course talking about magnificent magnesium. Why do we think it’s so magnificent? Well, when magnesium is mixed with other metals it makes stable, super-strong alloys. Not only are these alloys used in our mobile phones and laptops, they are also highly sought after by car manufacturers who are turning to the metal as a solution for making lightweight, low-emission vehicles. Australia is sitting in the driver’s seat to deliver new, improved, ‘supersonic’ magnesium metal and take advantage of our vast untapped reserves of magnesite. So we’ve decided to take the wheel and develop an innovative technology, known as MagSonic, which produces magnesium using up to 80 per cent less energy and up to 60 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions than traditional processes. The process involves heating magnesia (magnesium oxide) with carbon to extreme temperatures to produce magnesium vapour and carbon monoxide. The gases are then passed through a supersonic nozzle – similar to a rocket engine – at four times the speed of sound. This cools the gases in milliseconds, condensing and solidifying the magnesium vapour to magnesium metal. Read More here