SBIR Phase II: Sustainable Rare Earth Element Recycling from Neodymium Magnets

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will implement a proprietary rare earth extraction process on recycled NdFeB magnets at pilot scale to prove commercial production feasibility. By recovering rare earth elements (REEs) readily available in waste streams, this effort will help create a secondary source of these critical elements, thereby reducing U.S. dependence on an unstable, limited supply from China. This will, in turn, lay the groundwork necessary for the production of cutting-edge technologies reliant upon these materials to return to the U.S. The Nd and Dy elements which are recovered from this process are the critical components that increase the efficiency of electric motors by up to 30%. The availability of these resources will also significantly improve the vertical integration of manufacturing for national security technologies that depend heavily upon REEs, such as guided missile actuators and jet-fighter control panels. This project will also impact the electronics recycling sector by creating a new, reliable revenue stream for electronics recycling companies. The process to reclaim REEs from NdFeB magnets is simple and energy-efficient, with a minimal environmental footprint. The Phase I SBIR project demonstrated the feasibility of developing the process beyond laboratory scale to pilot scale, improved the purity of the end product and reduced the amount of waste from processing. The Phase II project will focus on the following objectives: 1) designing a scale up strategy and building a pilot scale production plant; 2) optimizing the pilot scale production process; 3) maximizing product recovery at pilot scale; 4) designing a wastewater treatment and reuse strategy; and 5) minimizing residual contamination in the final products. To achieve these Phase II objectives, we will develop process parameters for maximum yield, maximum purity, and minimum processing times at pilot scale. The first stage will be to successfully obtain production yields of 90+% and purity levels of 99+% in pilot scale batches. For the second stage, we will focus on scaling production to prove commercial-scale feasibility, with ideal product yields and purities of 95+% and 99+% respectively. Throughout all stages, we will focus on understanding and treating the accompanying waste products, including wastewater and residual metal impurities.