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A fabrication process for FeAl intermetallic compound powders has been developed in the present work. The fabrication process is based on a technique employed to study the environmental embrittlement of AlFe intermetallic systems. In the present process, thin metallic ribbons were produced by rapid solidification, placed in a steel mesh inside a reactor for subsequent exposure to water vapour for their final transformation into metallic powders. The process also showed the possibility to add alloying elements in small quantities (1-4 at.-%) in order to improve FeAl ductility. The results showed that the present process has advantages in cost for industrial applications since the raw material low cost and the use of water vapour instead of employing high cost equipment. Additionally, the technique can fix some important problems in the process fabrication, which are generally presented in other powders processing techniques.

The FeAl intermetallic compound is of great interest for industry due to its low density, low cost and high mechanical and corrosion resistance, so it can replace stainless steels and nickel-based alloys for some applications. In previous publications, the concept (principle) test for a novel FeAl powder manufacturing process has been shown. It consists mainly of the following stages: (a) metallic strip manufacture through rapid solidification, (b) water vapor exposure of these metallic strips for their disintegration and powder generation and (c) powder drying. Experimental tests were performed for 2 g of the FeAl intermetallic compound. However, this process can be extended to manufacture any other intermetallic compound containing aluminum, such as TiAl, NiAl, CoAl or any other that can be obtained from every element that can combine with aluminum, if the aluminum content is between 55 and 60 at.%. Nowadays, this process is at technology readiness level (TRL) 3. Therefore, in this paper, a process equipment up-scaling configuration for producing up to 15 kg powder is proposed. This manufacturing process is an industrial alternative to those commonly used to produce powders of this type of intermetallic compounds, such as mechanical alloying (MA). Moreover, several alternatives for employing renewable energy sources are given, making it even more environmentally sustainable.

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