Natick, MA August 10, 2011
Metal Oxygen Separation Technologies, Inc. (MOxST, www.moxst.com, pronounced “most”), a leading company in clean metal production for clean energy, has won a $6 million award to scale up their MagGen1000™ primary magnesium production process from the U.S. Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Program. MOxST CEO Steve Derezinski said, “This represents a very important milestone for the MOxST team and drives the next phase of growth for our company. The patented technologies commercialized with the development of the MagGen1000™ fundamentally change to way metals are produced.” The award will support scale-up of the MagGen1000™, the first commercial scale system based on MOxST patented technology platform which produces high-purity magnesium metal directly from abundant domestically-produced magnesium oxide. Over the course of the three-year project, MOxST will roll out the MagGen1000™ equipment at commercial pilot plant scale (30-50 tons of magnesium per year.)
Adam Powell, MOxST CTO said, “This is an important validation of MOxST’s clean technology platform for metals production, which will be very competitive in global markets as it drastically reduces both energy use and manufacturing emissions.”
Fuel Efficiency Standards are Critical Driver
In July 2011, the Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency agreed with 13 auto manufacturers to adopt new Fuel Efficiency standards requiring a fleet average of 54.5 mpg by model year 2025. Key to achieving this goal is the “vehicle lightweighting” obtained by increased use of magnesium. Magnesium is the lowest-density engineering metal with better strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight characteristics, and simpler die-cast part manufacturing, than steel or aluminum.
Auto industry experts project that by 2020, a typical car could use 340 lbs of magnesium alloys to replace 630 lbs of steel and aluminum. This would reduce vehicle weight by 290 lbs and improve fuel economy by 1.5-2 miles per gallon, reducing petroleum imports by up to 1 million bbl/day.
MOxST’s MagGen1000™ platform uses 85% less energy than the coal energy hungry “pigeon process” used in China to produce 80% of the world’s magnesium. MagGen1000™ uses 50% less energy than the chloride electrolysis processes used in the west. With greatly reduced electricity requirements, MagGen1000™ partnered with renewable electricity produces Magnesium with near zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
About the U.S. Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Program
“The Vehicle Technologies Program is developing more energy efficient and environmentally friendly highway transportation technologies that will enable America to use less petroleum. The long-term aim is to develop “leap frog” technologies that will provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and energy security, while lowering costs and reducing impacts on the environment.”
About Metal Oxygen Separation Technologies, Inc.
MOxST was founded by CEO Steve Derezinski and CTO Adam Powell in 2008 to bring SOM Electrolysis technology to industrial scale. SOM Electrolysis 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. The company is privately held and backed by angel and private equity investors.
Press Contact
press@moxst.com
781-898-3430
