---
title: "Unlocking gains in the energy and decarbonization sectors with AM"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/unlocking-gains-in-the-energy-and-decarbonization-sectors-with-am/
date: 2025-12-28
modified: 2026-06-08
lang: en
author: "Tess Boissonneault"
description: "As a technology very much founded on the principle of efficiency, it is no wonder that additive manufacturing has been warmly welcomed by players in the energy and decarbonization sectors...."
categories:
  - "AM for Energy"
tags:
  - "Featured"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20230424_201255544_iOS-conv-640x480.jpeg
word_count: 1326
---

# Unlocking gains in the energy and decarbonization sectors with AM

As a technology very much founded on the principle of efficiency, it is no wonder that additive manufacturing has been warmly welcomed by players in the energy and decarbonization sectors. [AM pioneer 3D Systems](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/3d-systems/) has long recognized the potential of AM in this vertical, having over three decades of experience working with energy companies, supporting them through application development, part production and technology integration.

3D Systems’ solutions have and are enabling players in the energy market to overcome a plethora of challenges related to the performance and efficiency of systems and supply chains. Challenges like obsolescence and system down-time can be addressed by using AM to rapidly iterate replacement parts. Complex supply chains can be simplified and derisked by integrating AM for on-demand, localized production, as well as to consolidate part numbers and minimize assembly requirements. Energy systems themselves can be made more efficient through the installation of 3D printed components designed to maximize performance with the least energy input. And finally, with AM new decarbonization technologies can be developed at an accelerated pace, ensuring that ecologically impactful solutions are deployed as quickly as possible.

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-26-at-18.05.58.jpeg)

3D Systems offers a variety of AM production solutions that meet the requirements of OEMs in the energy industry, including industrial metal AM platforms for the direct production of critical components like heat exchangers and combustor parts, as well as SLA-based QuickCast® systems for the production of investment and sand casting patterns. But supplying hardware is hardly where 3D Systems’ offering for the energy sector ends: the company leverages its manufacturing facilities and resources, as well as the expertise from its Application Innovation Group (AIG) to support energy OEMs in their integration of AM solutions.

“Through training, consultation and the transfer of prequalified manufacturing processes to your site, our dedicated team works with you across every step, from part design to post-processing,” 3D Systems states. This cooperative dynamic is important to energy OEMs, who can expect to reap the performance, uptime and efficiency benefits of industrial AM solutions.

## Direct production of optimized energy components

[3D Systems’ Direct Metal Printing (DMP) process](https://www.voxelmatters.com/dynaflex-acquires-dmp-flex-200-from-3d-systems/) is enabling energy OEMs to develop, iterate and produce metal components that integrate advanced geometries optimized for efficiency. The LPBF technology is compatible with a wide range of materials that meet the requirements of energy applications, including nickel-based superalloys, titanium, stainless steel and aluminum. Moreover, DMP systems have a best-in-class low oxygen atmosphere (<25 ppm) thanks to a unique vacuum chamber technology, which promotes superior part strength and chemical purity.

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-26-at-18.06.50.jpeg)

Energy OEMs are leveraging 3D Systems’ DMP systems (which come in a range of sizes and laser configurations) to accelerate part development and introduce more cost-effective workflows. In one case, for instance, 3D Systems’ AM technology enabled a lead time reduction of nine weeks for a turbo pump housing compared to a traditional investment casting workflow.

In developing the 3D printed component, 3D Systems first consulted with the customer to determine their goals and requirements. Within 10 days of this, the partners had designed and validated the design of the turbo pump housing part. The next step, build preparation and simulation, took a mere four hours, which involved using 3DXpert software to prep and optimize the 3D model, minimize supports by 69% using NoSupports build strategies, and simulate the build process.

The printing process itself took 75 hours to complete, resulting in a 445 mm-diameter part made from LaserForm Ni718 alloy. Post-processing for the part, which consisted of wire EDM and glass bead blasting to achieve a smooth uniform finish, reportedly took just six hours. In total, the use of metal AM cut down lead times from 12 weeks with investment casting to just three weeks, and reduced labor costs by 69%. Following the success of the application, 3D systems worked further to scale up the solution and facilitate technology transfer with its customer.

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-26-at-18.06.34.jpeg)

The turbo pump housing is just one example among many: direct metal AM has a number of transformative applications in the energy sector, including thermal management systems (i.e. heat exchangers), combustor components, carbon capture condensers and more. In all cases, energy OEMs can benefit from the design freedom afforded by the DMP process.

In the case of thermal management systems, conformal heat transfer channels can be integrated directly into the part geometry and heat-exchange surfaces can be increased without expanding (and in some cases even compacting) part footprint. These design features, along with the use of industrial metals with beneficial heat transfer properties, can unlock greater cooling efficiency in energy systems.

With regards to combustor components, assemblies can be consolidated into monolithic structures (with a ratio of 20:1 component reduction), simplifying production chains while improving performance and fuel efficiency. Part consolidation (30:1) and temperature control also factor in for carbon capture condensers, which use a controlled cooling process to separate carbon dioxide from a gas stream and condense it.

## Accelerating the casting of energy parts

The use of 3D printing to improve investment and sand casting processes is well established: investment casting foundries have been using the technology for decades, while sand casting businesses have embraced the technology in recent years. From the beginning, [3D Systems has supported these applications](https://www.voxelmatters.com/3d-systems-and-lindar-corporation-accelerate-thermoforming-tooling-with-am/) with its technologies.

The benefits of AM in casting are clear: the technology can manufacture patterns directly, eliminating the need for any tooling and reducing costs by up to 90% compared to traditional wax patterns. 3D Systems offers a range of systems capable of producing wax (MultiJet) or castable plastic (QuickCast) patterns in a wide range of scales and for both testing and end-use production. As the company says: “These solutions offer a profitable way for foundries to achieve production-grade casted parts faster and more affordably than ever before, and to become increasingly responsive to customer requirements.”

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-26-at-18.06.19.jpeg)In the energy sector, 3D printed patterns can accelerate the development and production of large-scale metal components, including impellers, stator vanes, casings and ductings. In the case of the latter, the use of 3D printed patterns rather than conventional tools to make patterns can unlock greater design complexity and precision, resulting in casings and ducts with more efficient gas flow structures. Moreover, by consolidating multiple components into a single integrated design (from 14 parts down to one), final parts can not only benefit from less assembly labor but also fewer points of failure, resulting in superior reliability.

By 3D printing impeller patterns, energy OEMs and foundries can achieve significant benefits, including up to 80% material waste reduction thanks to topology-optimized geometries, 90% cost reduction compared to conventional wax patterns, and a time-to-market up to 30 times faster. Of course, performance and efficiency are also key benefits, and [AM can unlock previously impossible geometries](https://www.voxelmatters.com/accelerating-innovation-with-3d-systems-psla-270-3d-printer/) that enable increased flow rates as well as lighter structures that require less energy input.

## AM is the future of energy generation

Overall, 3D Systems’ solutions and additive manufacturing technologies more generally are playing a critical role in the energy industry’s push to achieve greater efficiency—on all fronts. In short, both direct and indirect AM production processes can improve power generation and fuel performance, as well as enhance decarbonization technologies while streamlining supply chains and increasing hardware uptime.

As we saw, [3D Systems’ AM solutions](https://www.voxelmatters.com/3d-systems-achieves-fda-510k-clearance-for-vsp-orthopedics/) offer a wide range of benefits to energy sector OEMs, including:

- Design freedom that unlocks greater performance through conformal cooling channels and optimized gas and fluid flow geometries
- Part consolidation that not only simplifies downstream assembly but can also enhance reliability
- Faster lead times and lower costs unlocked by on-demand production and the elimination of tooling
- Simplified supply chains through both design consolidation and in-house production, facilitated by 3D Systems’ expert team

In fact, these are not just benefits: additive manufacturing is essential to the future of energy generation and decarbonization efforts, which need smart, efficient solutions backing them up as they strive for greater efficiency, fuel economy and emissions reductions.

*This article was originally published in VoxelMatters’ VM Focus Energy eBook. Read or download the full eBook for free [at this link](https://www.voxelmatters.com/voxelmatters-energy-am-focus-2025-ebook/).*