Research aims and objective

The research offers an innovative way to recycle rare-earth magnets in waste electrical and electronic equipment, RAEE. The project focuses on the permanent magnets used in Hard-Disk (HD). These are rich in rare earths such as Neodymium (Nd). The worldwide demand for rare earths continuously grows in countless industrial sectors such as automotive. However, the current cost of recycling magnets from HD is too high due to the processes required to modify their geometry.

This research project's primary objective is to develop a more energy and environmentally-friendly route, compared to current practice, to efficiently reuse rare-earth magnets as secondary raw materials in a wide range of application fields where normal ferrites have performance limitations.

This aim was broken down into specific project objectives:

The development of a magnet recycling process, starting with the disassembly of HD, leading to obtaining the secondary raw material in granular (powder) form and with magnetic properties attractive for high-end applications.
Developing an environmentally and economically sustainable process for forming and magnetising recycled powders.
The realisation of a prototype recycled magnet with mechanical and magnetic characteristics compatible with the chosen application.
The realisation of a working prototype of a fractional power electric machine of the variable flux or brushless type to demonstrate the new magnets' applicability to real devices.

The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a new series of magnets for variable flux or brushless machines that can improve performance and efficiency compared to ferrites (current low-cost/low-performance solution) at a much lower cost than NdFeB magnets (current high-performance but high-cost solution).

What are the medium- and long-term possibilities?

The availability on the market of secondary raw materials at a lower price and characterised by a lower supply risk, thus freeing them from the instability of raw material markets;
the development of low-cost and environmentally friendly rare earth recycling plants in the national territory, in the immediate vicinity or even within waste recovery plants;
the possible development of magnet production companies on the national territory, with the predisposition to develop new recycled material with characteristics suitable for innovative technologies, such as 3D printing;
the possible implementation of cost-competitive permanent magnet production chains directly at electrical machine manufacturers, with a consequent reduction of foreign sourcing.

ITALIAN VERSION