Washington Mills has taken the lead to respond to your needs in material testing of small quantities. We are the only raw material manufacturer to offer sample size custom fusions and new product testing and development assistance to customers. In addition to our pilot scale furnacing capabilities, we have a fully equipped pilot processing plant designed to create experimental lots of various mineral types. In our pilot plant we can crush, grind, separate, surface treat and heat treat new product compositions as well as prepare minerals and identify any new process steps that are needed to satisfy your requirements.
To find out more about our new Product Development Services, please direct your inquiry to:
Brian Hauer
Market Manager, Refractory & Ceramic Products
Phone: 716-278-6719; Fax: 716-278-6650
Email: bhauer@washingtonmills.com
Washington Mills has invested in equipment specially designed for small-scale product development work so that you may test and produce your next product with no costly capital investment. Our state-of-the-art experimental furnaces are designed to handle sample volumes as small as five to ten pounds. This is complemented by the capacities of our other electric arc fusion furnaces giving us the unique capability to test a broad range of product volumes and “scale up” production when needed - from five pounds to thirty tons. Our Research and Development engineers have created an impressive range of new, exotic fused minerals ranging from Zirconia-Yttria to Praseodymium Oxide. Clients such as NASA have used Washington Mills’ New Product Development services to test new fused mineral formulations and to improve the performance of existing materials.
Take advantage of our expertise by working directly with our fusion and ceramic specialists. Our Research and Development Group engineers have more than 100 combined years of electric-arc fusion and materials experience. Let us work with your R&D personnel to turn your new product idea into a reality. All new product development services are provided in strictest confidence.
The following is a list of just some of the materials we have custom fused for customers. We can co-fuse several oxides together of varying percentages of each oxide, specially tailored to your request.
| Alumina | Fused Alumina |
| Alumina-Zirconia | 80% - 20%/60%-40% |
| Alumina-Zirconia-Magnesia | 57% - 10% - 32% |
| Alumina-Zirconia-Titania | 72% - 26% -2% |
| Alumina-Chrome Oxide | Cr2O3 varied by 0.3% - 99% |
| Alumina-Nickel Oxide | 56% - 44% |
| Alumina-Titania-Yttria | 94%-3%-3% |
| Aluminum-Titania | 98%-2% /87%-13%/60%40% |
| Alumina-Silica-Zirconia-Titania | 70%-20%-5%-2% |
| Alumina-Magnesia-Silica | 14%-35%-51% (Cordierite) |
| Calcia Stabilized Zirconia | 4% Lime |
| Calcia – Silica | 64% - 34% (Larnite) |
| Calia-Yttria-Manganese Oxide | 26%-25%-49% |
| Calcium Oxide | Fused Lime |
| Cerium Oxide | Fused Ceria |
| Erbium Oxide | Fused Erbia |
| FerroSilicon FeSi | 84%-15% |
| Lanthanum Oxide | Fused Lanthanum Oxide |
| Lime-Magnesia-Alumina-Silica | 37%-7%-12%-48% |
| Magnesia-Chrome Oxide | 20% - 80% |
| Magnesia-Chrome Oxide | 40% - 60% |
| Magnesia-Alumina | 87%-13% |
| Magnesia-Alumina-Zirconia | 82% - 13% - 5% |
| Magnesia-Chrome-Alumina-Iron Oxide | 64%-19%-6%-11% |
| Magnesia-Chrome-Alumina-Iron Oxide | 53% - 37% - 4% - 6% |
| Magnesia-Silica | 55%-45% (Forsterite) |
| Praseodymium Oxide | Fused Praseodymium Oxide |
| TiO2 | Fused Titania |
| Yttria | Fused Yttria |
| Zirconium – Dysprosium Oxide | |
| Zirconium – Dyprosium – Indium Oxide | |
| Zirconium DiBoride | ZrB2 |
| Zirconia – Ytterbium Oxide | |
| Zirconia-Yttria | 91%-9%/93%-7% |