Published date: 25 March 2022
This notice was replaced on 6 July 2022
This notice does not contain the most up-to-date information about this procurement. The most recent notice is:
Awarded contract (published 6 July 2022)
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
Industrial or laboratory furnaces, incinerators and ovens - 42300000
Location of contract
B15 2TT
Value of contract
£317,000
Procurement reference
SC10514/22
Published date
25 March 2022
Closing date
26 April 2022
Closing time
12pm
Contract start date
1 May 2022
Contract end date
31 March 2023
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
The University of Birmingham invites tenders for supply of a sintering system for the production of sintered NdFeB permanent magnets. The proposed unit will allow inert charging and sintering of a batch size of a minimum of 50 kg of NdFeB under vacuum or inert atmosphere.
Note, due to space requirements of the system, the proposed sintering system will be installed at Tyesley Energy Park in Birmingham.
This project is funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund; Driving the Electric Revolution.
General characteristics
A sintering furnace for NdFeB with a minimum capacity of 50 kg per batch. The system must incorporate inert loading of pressed NdFeB compacts.
The equipment must comply with all the relevant UK law, regulations, and British Standards.
Specification
i. Requirements
1) The complete system must be capable of the handling of batch sizes of a minimum of 50 kg, nominally for rectangular magnet blocks with dimensions up to 40mm x 40mm x 20mm.
2) The system should allow for inert loading of pressed compacts by use of a glove box system.
3) The system needs to be ergonomically designed for the efficient handling of the material, facilitating the inert handling and transfer of green compacts (maximum oxygen content 20 ppm) also allowing for the easy transfer in and out of sintering trays.
4) The sintering vessel should be capable of being pumped down to a vacuum level of 10-4 mBar, with appropriate filters / traps to avoid powder entering the vacuum pump.
5) The sintering furnace must be capable of consistently achieving temperatures up to a minimum of 1200°C under vacuum or inert gas with good thermal uniformity (in the order of +/-5°C) during the ramp and sintering stages.
6) During the sintering process hydrogen will be evolved from the compacts (up to 900°C). The pumping system must be capable of safely removing this hydrogen. The sintering system needs to have the ability to actively cool the material from the sintering temperature at a controlled rate. Appropriate control should be incorporated with the ability to log the process parameters. Temp, Vacuum, oxygen levels, moisture levels, flow rates, power consumption. Ability to set multiple programmes for gas control and temp profiles through PID control.
ii. Optional Component Technologies
7) The system could incorporate two solvent extraction chambers and pumping systems to remove solvents from the green compacts prior to the sintering process.
More information
Additional text
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All correspondence should go via the University's In-Tend website.
Your tender documents and information must be submitted via In-Tend by the date and time specified; www.in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofbirmingham/aspx/Home
Scoring to assess the tenderers information is "pre-loaded" onto the In-Tend system. Therefore, you must make sure you complete all elements.
Key information for this tender is published on In-tend
This notice has also been published on Find a Tender service.
About the buyer
Contact name
Susanna Ting
Address
University of Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM
B152TT
England
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