(102c) Techno-Economic Analysis of Recycling Rare Earth Metals from EV Motors

We are investigating the technical and commercial feasibility of the recycling of rare earth metals from post consumer products. Lab-scale experiments were previously conducted by Polykala Technologies LLC to establish the processing steps and design basis mass balance cases for different potential feeds. The current assessment focuses on one specific feed: recycling Neodymium (Nd) metal from NdFeB magnets taken from recycled electric motors.

Expected gross revenue for each 1,500 kg batch of recycled NdFeB magnets was estimated as $21,800, which comes almost completely from the value of the recovered Nd metal. Operating expenses were estimated to be least $15,400 per batch, for maximum net revenue of $6,400 per batch. Assuming 230 batches are processed per year, the maximum net revenue is $1,466,000 per year.

Capital expenses were estimated to be $5.32 MM. This total value was generated by estimating the cost of 60% of the pieces of individual equipment in the unit - including what is expected to be the most expensive equipment – then scaling that cost up to estimate the cost for the entire process. The capital expense required for 60% of the pieces of process equipment is $3.14 MM. Scaling this estimate up from 60% to 100% of the pieces of process equipment increases the estimated capital expense from $3.14 MM to $5.32 MM.

Acknowledgement

This project was supported by DOE SBIR Project Contract Number DE-SC0021544.