NdFeB Permanent Magnet Recycling Through Liquid Metal Extraction 4-14-2015

Presented by: Tony Pribble, Senior, Mechanical Engineering Mentors: Dr. Frank Peters, IMSE Dr. Scott Chumbley, Material Science & Engineering

Agenda • • • • •

Rare Earth Elements Rare Earth Market Recycling Process Process Demand Process Supply

Rare Earth Elements (REE) • • •

Lanthanide Series [1] Numbers 39, and 57-71 Two subgroups [2] • •

• Figure 1: Periodic Table [1]

Light (LREE, 57-63) Heavy (HREE, 39, 64-71)

REE are not that rare

Rare Earth Elements (REE) • • • •

•

REE form in minerals compounds [3] Rarely form in large deposits Chemical extraction removes the RE LREE primarily forms in • Bastnasite • Monazite HREE primarily forms in • Laterite clays • Xenotime

Figure 2: RE mineral formations [3]

REE Applications[4] LREE • • • • • • •

Defense Magnets Aerospace Auto Catalysts and Petroleum Refining Hard Drives Televisions and Computer Screens Metal Alloys

HREE • • • • • • •

Magnets Florescent lamps Metal Alloys Ceramics Lasers Glass Coloring X-ray Machines

Magnets •

Four main types of magnets [5] • Ferrite • NdFeB • SmCo • AlNiCo

NdFeB Applications[6] • • • • • •

Headphones/Speakers Hard Disk Drives MRIs Wind Turbine Generators Electric Motors Sensors

Agenda • • • • •

Rare Earth Elements Rare Earth Market Recycling Process Process Demand Process Supply

Rare Earth Market[4] • • • • •

In 2010, world demand estimated at 136,100 tons Production in 2010 was 133,600 tons Shortage of 1.9% 2015 demand is projected to be 210,000 tons 35% increase

Figure 3: RE Mine and Deposit Locations [3]

Figure 4: RE Production and Imports [4]

Rare Earth Supply - China •

Between 2009 and 2010, China cut RE exports by 60% [4]

•

In 2010, China [4]: • Produced 97% of Rare Earth Oxides • Only exporter of RE metal • Produced ~90% of metal alloys • Manufactured 75% of NdFeB and 60% of SmCo magnets

Rare Earth Supply – U.S. One mine is operational [4] • Mountain Pass, CA operated by Molycorp • 2014 production totaled 4,769 mt [7] • Contains about 1.47 Mt of REO [6] •

Agenda • • • • •

Rare Earth Elements Rare Earth Market Recycling Process Process Supply Process Demand

Recycling Processes •

Processes [8] • Direct reuse • Hydrogen Decrepitation • Hydrometallurgical Method • Pyrometallurgical Method • Gas-phase Extraction

Recycling Process Process is based off the work Liquid Metal Extraction of Nd from NdFeB magnet scrap by Y. Xu, L.S. Chumbley, and F.C. Laabs [9] • Work determined Nd will diffuse into liquid Mg due to solubility limit •

Recycling Process-Overview •

Possible viable solutions • Recycle into Mg-RE alloys • Recycling into pure metal

Recycling Process – Mg-RE Alloys • • •

•

Master Alloy Nd and Y are chemically similar Selective replacement of Y in Mg-Y alloys • WE43 and WE54 Compositions: • WE43 – 3.7-4.3%Y, 2.4-4.4%RE, 0.4% min Zr [10] • WE54 – 4.75-5.5%Y, 2.5-4%RE, 0.4% min Zr [11]

Recycling Process – Mg-RE Alloys Demagnetize

Extract

Remove Plating Remove slag

Crush to size Alloy/Cast

Recycling Process – Extracting Non-steady state diffusion • Assume • Crushed magnet scrap is approximately spherical • Constant flux at magnet scrap surface • Homogenous concentration within scrap •

Recycling Process – Extracting •

From The Mathematics of Diffusion by J. Crank, 2nd ed. [12]

Recycling Process – Mg-RE Alloys •

Issues/Concerns • Flux less casting • Varying magnet composition • Extraction time

Agenda • • • • •

Rare Earth Elements Rare Earth Market Recycling Process Process Demand Process Supply

Recycling Process - Demand •

Mg alloys with RE content [13] • • • • • • •

EQ21 EZ33 QE22 WE43 WE54 ZE41 ZE63

Recycling Process - Demand 2012 Economic Census data – NAICS 331410A103 • $344,479,000 for Primary Mg and Mg alloys shipment value (material value) [14] • AFS Metal Casting January 2015 [15] • $800,000,000 is Mg castings (component value) • Assume infinite demand •

Agenda • • • • •

Rare Earth Elements Rare Earth Market Recycling Process Process Demand Process Supply

Recycling Process – Supply 8.5% CAGR of NdFeB magnets through 2019 [6] • 164,200 t production • 11.4% market share (projected) [6] • “Sales of rare earths for NdFeB magnets will account for 99.7% of total revenues” [6] •

Recycling Process – Supply [16] • • • • •

J. Rademaker, R. Klein, Y. Yang examine 3 sources of recyclable magnets (HDD, Wind Turbines, Electric Vehicles) HDD magnets most accessible currently ~470,000 kg of Nd (REO eqv.) available for recycling from HDD globally By 2030, 2,200,000 kg of Nd from the 3 sources Currently, ~121,000 kg Nd (pure metal eq.) available in North America

Recycling Process – Supply •

Push for Dy free NdFeB magnets [5] • SmCo • D-HDDR (MAGFINE) • MQ3 NdFeB (Magnequench) • SmFeN

Questions?

References • • • • • • • •

• • •

[1]U.S. Geological Survey. Rare Earth Elements-Critical Resources For High Technology. U.S. Department of the Interior; 2002 USGS Fact Sheet 087-02 [2] Castor S, Hendrick J. Rare Earth Elements. In: Industrial Minerals 7th Ed. Society for mining, metallurgy, and exploration. Littleton (CO): 2006. p. 769-792 [3] Pecharsky V. MSE 457/557 Presentation. Iowa State University [4] Congressional Research Service (U.S.) Rare Earth Elements: The Global Supply Chain. 2013, Dec. 16. 7-5700 R41347 Available From: http://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41347.pdf [5] BCC Research. Permanent Magnets: Technologies and Global Markets. Wellesley (MA). January 2014. ISBN 1-56965-673-8 [6] BCC Research. Rare Earths: Worldwide Markets, Applications, Technologies. Wellesley (MA). January 2015. ISBN 1-62296-013-0 [7] Molycorp [Internet] Greenwood Village (CO). 2015 Feb. 2. Rare Earth Production Rises in Q4 at Molycorp’s Mountain Pass Facility [cited 2015 Apr. 5] Available from: http://www.molycorp.com/rare-earth-production-rises-in-q4-at-molycorps-mountain-pass-facility/ [8] Binnemans K., Jones P.T., Blanpain B., Van Gerven T., Yang Y., Walton A., Buchert M. Recycling of rare earths: a critical review. Journal of Cleaner Production. [Internet] 2013 Jan. 5. [cited 2015 Apr. 5]; 51; 1-22 Available From: http://www.kuleuven.rare3.eu/wpcontent/plugins/rare/images/papers/JCLEPRO_Binnemans_REE_Recycling_May2013.pdf [9]Xu Y., Chumbley L.S., Laabs F.C. Liquid metal extraction of Nd from NdFeB magnet scrap. Ames Laboratory and the Materials Science & Engineering Department, Iowa State University. 200 [10] Magnesium Elektron. Elektron WE43B. Rake Lane, Swinton, Manchester, England. (2014). Data Sheet 467. Available From: http://www.magnesium-elektron.com/sites/default/files/Elektron%20WE43B%20datasheet.pdf [11] Magnesium Elektron. Elektron WE54B. Rake Lane, Swinton, Manchester, England. (2014). Data Sheet 466. Available From: http://www.magnesium-elektron.com/sites/default/files/Elektron%20WE54%20datasheet.pdf

References • • • • •

[12] Crank J. The mathematics of diffusion. 2nd ed. Clarendon, Oxford. 1975. [13] Metals Handbook. 10th ed. ASM International. American Society for Steel Treating. American Society For Metals. Metals Park (OH). 1990 [14] United States Census Bureau. Manufacturing: Industry Series: Product or Service Statistics for the U.S.2012. EC1231l2 NAICS 331410A103 [15] Industry to see continued short term growth. Modern Casting. American Foundry Society. 2015 Jan. Available From: http://content.yudu.com/web/y5b2/0A1snzj/ModernCastingJan2015/flash/resources/index.htm [16] Rademaker, J. H., Kleijn, R., Yang, Y. Recycling as a strategy against rare earth element criticality: a systemic evaluation of the potential yield of NdFeB magnet recycling. Environmental science & technology, 2013 Sep. 1; 47(18); 10129-36