Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Chancellors Court,Edgbaston
BIRMINGHAM
B152TT
Contact
Susanna Ting
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKG - West Midlands (England)
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx
one.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofbirmingham/aspx/Home
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofbirmingham/aspx/Home
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Education
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Supply and Installation of a Hydrogen Reactor for Processing of Magnetic Scrap (HPMS) Vessel, to the University of Birmingham
Reference number
SC9230/21
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 44615000 - Pressure vessels
two.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
two.1.4) Short description
This project is funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Industrial Strategy
Challenge Fund; Driving the Electric Revolution under grant agreement 1524086
The University of Birmingham invites tenders for supply of a bespoke, hydrogen
processing of magnet scrap (HPMS) vessel. The HPMS vessel will be the largest magnet
recycling plant of its kind in the UK and will focus on processing of end of life magnets
containing magnetic scrap.
The HPMS vessel is based on a patented technology, developed at the University of
Birmingham, in which hydrogen is used to extract neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B)
magnet powder from end of life permanent magnet containing products. During the
P a g e | 3
HPMS process, sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets, which are embedded in end of life products,
are 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 between 1-4 bar of hydrogen
at room temperature for between 1-4 hours. Once exposed to hydrogen, the sintered
Nd-Fe-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 are encased within some
sort of housing so the hydrogenated powder needs to be liberated from the scrap using
mechanical agitation through a porous sieve stage. This is typically performed by
rotating the scrap within a porous drum (3-5 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 under an argon or nitrogen atmosphere (O2 = < 5 ppm).
It would be an advantage if the HPMS vessel could be inertly loaded with scrap in this
application through a hopper system or that flanges were in place to retro-fit this.
The extracted alloy powder will be converted into recycled NdFeB magnets using further
processes, which do not form part of this tender.
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 up to 200-300 kg batch sizes.
Note, due to the space requirements of the system, the large scale HPMS vessel will be
installed at the Tyseley Energy Park (TEP).
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £610,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 24111000 - Hydrogen, argon, rare gases, nitrogen and oxygen
- 31630000 - Magnets
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKG - West Midlands (England)
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
This project is funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Industrial Strategy
Challenge Fund; Driving the Electric Revolution under grant agreement 1524086
The University of Birmingham invites tenders for supply of a bespoke, hydrogen
processing of magnet scrap (HPMS) vessel. The HPMS vessel will be the largest magnet
recycling plant of its kind in the UK and will focus on processing of end of life magnets
containing magnetic scrap.
The HPMS vessel is based on a patented technology, developed at the University of
Birmingham, in which hydrogen is used to extract neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B)
magnet powder from end of life permanent magnet containing products. During the
P a g e | 3
HPMS process, sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets, which are embedded in end of life products,
are 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 between 1-4 bar of hydrogen
at room temperature for between 1-4 hours. Once exposed to hydrogen, the sintered
Nd-Fe-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 are encased within some
sort of housing so the hydrogenated powder needs to be liberated from the scrap using
mechanical agitation through a porous sieve stage. This is typically performed by
rotating the scrap within a porous drum (3-5 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 under an argon or nitrogen atmosphere (O2 = < 5 ppm).
It would be an advantage if the HPMS vessel could be inertly loaded with scrap in this
application through a hopper system or that flanges were in place to retro-fit this.
The extracted alloy powder will be converted into recycled NdFeB magnets using further
processes, which do not form part of this tender.
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 up to 200-300 kg batch sizes.
Note, due to the space requirements of the system, the large scale HPMS vessel will be
installed at the Tyseley Energy Park (TEP).
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
two.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT: £610,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
7
This contract is subject to renewal
No
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Originally published as:
Date
7 July 2021
Local time
12:00pm
Changed to:
Date
21 July 2021
Local time
12:00pm
See the change notice.
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date
7 July 2021
Local time
1:00pm
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
University of Birmingham
Birmingham
Country
United Kingdom