Modeling the value recovery of rare earth permanent magnets at End-of-Life

Liang Cong, Hongyue Jin, Pete Fitsos, Timothy McLntyre, Yuehwern Yih, Fu Zhao, John W. Sutherland

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Permanent magnets containing rare earth elements (REEs) such as Dysprosium and Neodymium offer an advantage over non-REE containing magnets (e.g., ferrite and AINiCo) in terms of power relative to size. 1 lowever, REE availability lias varied significantly in recent years leading to volatility in the cost of rare earth permanent magnets (REPMs). The supply of REEs can be increased by recycling consumer products and industrial machinery that contain REPMs at product end-of-life (EOL). This paper discusses the REE recovery process for EOL products. The optimal dismantling of products is examined with an emphasis placed on obtaining used REPMs. The challenge of collecting, managing, transporting, and processing used products is addressed through the development of a cost model for REPM recovery. This model is used to investigate several EOL strategies for recovering REPMs. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to identify the key factors that influence value recovery economics. A hard disk drive serves as a case study for model demonstration.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)680-685
Number of pages6
JournalProcedia CIRP
Volume29
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event22nd CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering, LCE 2015 - Sydney, Australia
Duration: Apr 7 2015Apr 9 2015

Keywords

  • Disassembly
  • Dismantling
  • Rcmanufacturing
  • Recycling

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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