Published date: 24 June 2020
This notice was replaced on 3 December 2020
This notice does not contain the most up-to-date information about this procurement. The most recent notice is:
Awarded contract (published 3 December 2020)
Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.
Contract summary
Industry
Hydrogen, argon, rare gases, nitrogen and oxygen - 24111000
Magnets - 31630000
Pressure vessels - 44615000
Location of contract
b15 2tt
Value of contract
£404,761.90
Procurement reference
SC8451/20
Published date
24 June 2020
Closing date
24 July 2020
Contract start date
1 September 2020
Contract end date
1 March 2021
Contract type
Supply contract
Procedure type
Open procedure (above threshold)
Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.
This procedure can be used for procurements above the relevant contract value threshold.
Contract is suitable for SMEs?
Yes
Contract is suitable for VCSEs?
No
Description
Internet address(es):
Main address: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk
Address of the buyer profile: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofbirmingham/aspx/Home
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: https://intendhost.co.uk/universityofbirmingham/aspx/Home
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address.
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the abovementioned address.
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: yes
Identification of the project:
This project is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
"SUSMAGPRO" (Sustainable Recovery, Reprocessing and Reuse of Rare-Earth Magnets in a Circular
Economy) under grant agreement 821114.
The University of Birmingham invites tenders for supply of a bespoke hydrogen processing of magnet scrap
(HPMS) vessel. The HPMS vessel will be one of two large-scale magnet recycling pilot plants developed
across Europe as part of the SUSMAGPRO project and will focus on processing new forms of magnetic scrap,
including; loudspeakers, electric motors, power steering units and wind turbine canisters.
The HPMS vessel is based on a patented technology, developed at the University of Birmingham, in which
hydrogen is used to extract Nd-Fe-B magnet powder from end of life permanent magnet containing products.
During the HPMS process, sintered Nd Fe B magnets are crushed and loaded inside a vessel, which is
then sealed, evacuated, back filled with an inert gas (e.g. Argon or Nitrogen), evacuated and then filled
with approximately 1.2 bar hydrogen at room temperature. Once exposed to hydrogen, the sintered NdFe-B undergoes the hydrogen decrepitation (HD) process and breaks down into a friable, demagnetised,
hydrogenated powder.
Often the end of life products containing the Nd Fe-B material is encased within some sort of housing so the
hydrogenated powder needs to be liberated from the scrap using some form of mechanical agitation. This is
typically performed by rotating the scrap within a porous drum (3 mm pore size) within the HPMS vessel, after
which the powder falls into a sealable collection pot at the bottom of the vessel, which can then be unloaded
inside an argon or nitrogen containing glove box (O2 = < 5 ppm).
Once inside a glove box, the hydrogenated powder can then be purified using a combination of milling and
sieving to remove any nickel coating and other impurities before being reprocessed in a number of different
ways to form secondary magnets.
The HPMS process has already been demonstrated at the 5 kg scale using a 300 L vessel at the University of
Birmingham. The main objective of the new HPMS vessel will be to scale this technology to a 50 kg batch size.
About the buyer
Contact name
Pauline Harrison-Johnson (Strategic Procurement)
Address
Edgbaston
BIRMINGHAM
B152TT
England
Telephone
01214146899
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