IperionX validates GenX continuous titanium production
IperionX, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, has announced that GenX, its next-generation continuous HAMR titanium production platform, has been validated through four production campaigns on the commercial-scale GenX machine at its Virginia R&D facility.
The GenX machine processed more than 500 kg of titanium powder across four continuous runs totalling 41 hours, at an average rate of approximately 12 kg per hour. Product from each run was collected separately, with samples selected from different locations for oxygen analysis.
IperionX reported that all seven of the eight angular powder samples met the Grade 5 oxygen limit applicable to Ti-6Al-4V plate and bar under ASTM B265 and B348, with four also meeting the more stringent Grade 23 limit. An eighth sample, from an interrupted furnace run that did not complete the HAMR cycle, was excluded from the validation assessment. All spherical titanium powder samples met the Grade 23 oxygen limit.
The patented HAMR process is IperionX’s hydrogen-enabled, low-temperature process for producing low-oxygen titanium powder, currently operated on a batch basis in Virginia. GenX applies the process continuously, eliminating the repeated furnace heat-up, cool-down, loading and unloading associated with batch cycles.
Compared with IperionX’s batch HAMR operations, GenX used more than 45% less magnesium, over 60% less hydrogen and more than 75% less power per kilogram of titanium powder, while achieving six times the throughput on a like-for-like run-time basis.
IperionX stated that continuous operation is expected to improve equipment utilisation and support expansion through replicated and scaled-up production lines.
During Q4 2026, the company plans to continue optimising the GenX furnace, integrate it into a full powder production line and undertake engineering and economic evaluation for its first industrial-scale GenX production line. GenX is not required for IperionX’s existing 200 tpa production ramp or planned expansions in Virginia.
GenX also supports the company’s development of continuous HSPT processing for the production of finished titanium components. A US Army task order awarded in August under IperionX’s $99 million SBIR Phase III contract is funding continuous HSPT and dehydrogenation capacity in Virginia.
“Achieving continuous primary titanium production has long been the ultimate aspiration for the titanium industry. IperionX’s GenX process is a continuous titanium production platform that is more efficient to operate and easier to scale. These first results exceeded our expectations: more than 500 kilograms of recycled titanium powder processed across four separate runs, with every sample meeting its relevant oxygen specification,” stated IperionX CEO Taso Arima.
