Magnetics Business & Technology - July/August 2024 - 9

FEATURE ARTICLE
soil an industrial tool for the manufacture of sintered Nd-Fe-B permanent
magnets, from independent material sources, to initiate a
sovereign, competitive and efficient sector.
To do this, the project will work on 4 axes:
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facturing lines.
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The development of innovative technologies for the manufacture
of sintered magnets and their deployment on pilot manuproduction
of magnets outside Asia.
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lection, dismantling and recovery of electric motors.
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The development of a scheme to secure supplies and
The preparation in France of a competitive sector of colThe
reduction of the environmental impact: recycling
of magnets, reduction of manufacturing waste, recovery of rare
earths, ecodesign of electrical machines facilitating the dismantling
of motors and the recovery of magnets.
Tell us about the Magellan Project.
MAGELLAN is a ground-breaking project funded under Horizon
Europe, running from January 2024 to December 2026 with a total
budget of €7.5M. Its goal is to revolutionize the way Europe recycles
and manufactures permanent magnets (PMs), a key component
in advanced technologies that will shape the green transition
across the continent, like for example electric vehicles (EVs) and
wind turbines.
The project brings together 15 partners from 8 European countries.
Its renowned experts from academia, research and industry
will work jointly to find the best recycling and manufacturing routes
for permanent magnets used in electric vehicle traction motors.
Starting from our good ideas validated in a lab environment, we
will make every endeavour to make them work in real life conditions
in order to pave the way for a complete EU supply chain in
the longer term.
The MAGELLAN solution will:
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end-of-life magnets, achieving up to 50% improvement in yield
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Increase the reuse of rare earth elements (REE) from
Contribute to the reduction of PMs' CO2 emissions of up
to 50% when compared with standard magnet manufacturing processes
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REE per year
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cycling process
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Avoid mining operations equivalent to 535 tonnes of light
Increase material- and cost-effectiveness of the REE rePave
the way for a 2000 tonnes/year supply chain, about
10% of the 2040 forecasted European market for electric vehicle
traction motors (EVTM).
MAGELLAN is a step towards a greener and more self-sufficient
Europe. By improving the recycling of rare-earth magnets, the
project will make sure that the European Union stays at the cutting
edge of the green transition, thus securing a cleaner, more
sustainable future for all of us.
Tell us about the timeline: when did it begin, what is the current
status, what is ahead?
On top of its R&D and industrialization efforts engaged in MAGNOLIA*
and MAGELLAN projects (and other to come!), studies
have already started for a state-of-the-art industrial pilot. The Final
Investment Decision of the industrial pilot is expected by early
2025. Based on its long-lasting experience with complex powders,
Orano considers that industrialization of these advanced processes
will be key.
The industrial plant will be positioned immediately afterwards in
order to kick start operations before the end of the decade, for
both recycling and manufacturing of high quality sintered NdFeB
magnets.
Please describe Orano Group's technical capabilities for magnet
recycling.
Although Orano has mastered hydro-metallurgy processes, it focuses
on the recycling short loops in order to be more sustainable
and cost effective instead of the long loop. In such loops, scrap
magnet material is incorporated with primary raw material, either
in a melting furnace (melting / fusion route) or blended in powder
form at milling stage (powder route). Different innovative strategies
will be applied according to the scrap magnet material composition
and degradation state.
The material follows the other conventional process operations up
to the magnetization stage to become a permanent magnet. Many
of these steps call on Orano's expertise in Mixed Oxydes (MOx)
fuel fabrication, in particular with regard to the particle size control
and powder blending, shaping, sintering.
Through innovative techniques such as neodymium substitution
and functionally shaped permanent magnets through powder injection
molding, the partners plan to produce a new EVTM rotor
design that improves assembly, motor performance, reduces permanent
magnet content and facilitates dismantling of end-of-life
motors. The project's optimization of magnet recovery and recycling
seeks to minimize the dispersion and dilution of heavy REEs,
avoid downcycling, and support standardized magnet labelling.
Magellan Project overview
For more info, see Magellan Project on LinkedIn, and www.orano.
group.
www.MagneticsMag.com
July/August 2024 * Magnetics Business & Technology 9
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Magnetics Business & Technology - July/August 2024

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