Materials in nanoscale possess interesting features such as depression of melting point, increased chemical reactivity, improved mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. Today, nanoparticles (NPs) are generally produced using chemical synthesis routes and other top down methods. These processes suffer generally from issues such as low production yield and require complex precursors that may have large environmental concerns. NPs, especially spherical NPs, are very interesting in bringing down sintering temperature for sinter alloys and act as nucleation sites for crystal growth in, for instance, additive manufacturing processes. These features lead to decreased energy consumption and improved mechanical performance of additively manufactured products. Therefore, manufacturing of NPs in large scale is of great interest for future industrial development.

The purpose of the present thesis work is to carry out a feasibility design study for a novel nanoparticle manufacturing equipment concept using a novel two coupled axis concept for producing NPs in larger quantities.

The method is based on Consumable Electrode Direct Current Arc (CEDA, also called spark erosion) using two vertically aligned parallel electrodes, thus significantly increasing the yield of the NPs production. Before the start of the design work, a theoretical study was carried out to understand the state-of-the-art of the nanoparticle manufacturing processes available. It was followed by a novel design concept for a new equipment that can dramatically increase the yield of the NPs production compared to the state-of-the-art. The work is carried out using the Software Solidworks2016. A 3D model of the new machine concept using the novel design was built. A simulation of the control system based on the Software Proteus was carried out.

This novel equipment can potentially offer continuous and larger scale and production of NPs which is useful for energy efficient sintering and for efficient control of grain size in additive manufacturing process, thus making a better product in the fast-growing additive manufacturing business sector.