August 31st, 2021 China Standard Technology Division interpreted national standard of Recycled Materials for NdFeB Production and Processing.
1. Standard setting background
Neodymium Iron boron permanent magnet material is an intermetallic compound formed by rare earth metal elements neodymium and iron. It has excellent magnetic properties and is one of the most important rare earth functional materials. In recent years, the application field of NdFeB permanent magnet materials has become more and more extensive. It has expanded from the original national defense and military industry fields such as aviation, aerospace, navigation and weapons to a wider range of civil high-tech fields such as instruments, energy and transportation, medical equipment, electronic power and communication.
Due to the different shape requirements of NdFeB permanent magnet materials in different application fields, the production of NdFeB permanent magnet materials in China is first processed into blank materials with consistent shape, and then processed into finished products of different types according to the needs of users. During the production and processing of Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet materials, a large number of machining debris, leftover materials and oil sludge debris will be produced. In addition, there will be residual raw materials in the process of grinding, pressing, forming and roasting. These wastes are the recycled materials for Nd-Fe-B production and processing, accounting for about 20% ~ 50% of the raw materials of Nd-Fe-B, which is also commonly known as Nd-Fe-B waste in the industry. Such recycled materials will be collected by classification, most of which will be purchased by rare earth smelting and separation plants, recycled and processed into rare earth metals, and used again in the production of neodymium iron boron materials.
With the development of Nd-Fe-B industry, the categories of Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet materials are richer and the specifications are increasing. There are varieties with high content of cerium, holmium, terbium and dysprosium. The content of cerium, holmium, terbium and dysprosium in the corresponding Nd-Fe-B production and processing recycling materials is also increasing, resulting in great changes in the total amount of rare earth and the composition of rare earth elements in the Nd-Fe-B production and processing recycling materials. At the same time, with the increase of the trading volume of recycled materials, there is a phenomenon of shoddy materials being replaced by good ones and false ones being confused with true ones in the trading process. The category of recycled materials needs to be more detailed, and the sampling and preparation methods also need to be clearer to standardize the acceptance conditions and reduce trade disputes. The original standard GB / T 23588-2009 Neodymium Iron Boron waste has been published for more than ten years, and its technical content is no longer suitable for the needs of the current market.
2. Main contents of the standard
The standard specifies the classification principle, chemical composition requirements, test methods, inspection rules and packaging, marking, transportation, storage and quality certificate of recycled materials for NdFeB production and processing. It is applicable to the recovery, processing and trade of various recyclable wastes (hereinafter referred to as recycled materials) generated in NdFeB production and processing. During the preparation process, through extensive investigation and expert discussion for many times, we listened to the opinions of China’s neodymium iron boron production enterprises, neodymium iron boron product application enterprises and rare earth separation enterprises in recent years, and defined the key technical contents of the revision of this standard. In the process of standard revision, the classification is further divided in detail according to the source process of recycled materials, the appearance and chemical composition of various recycled materials are described in detail, and the classification basis is listed to provide technical basis for recycled material transaction.
For the classification of recycled materials, the standard defines three categories: dry powder, magnetic mud and block materials. In each category, the appearance characteristics of materials are subdivided according to different source processes. In the trading process of recycled materials, the total amount of rare earth oxides and the proportion of each rare earth element are particularly key pricing indicators. Therefore, the standard lists the composition tables of the total amount of rare earth elements, the proportion of rare earth elements and the amount of non rare earth elements in recycled materials respectively. At the same time, the standard gives detailed provisions on the sampling method, tools and sampling proportion of recycled materials. Because the recycled materials are often uneven, in order to obtain representative samples, this standard specifies the specifications of the plug rod used in sampling, the requirements for the selection of sampling points and the sample preparation method.
3. Significance of standard implementation
There is a large amount of recycled materials from NdFeB production and processing in China, which is a characteristic product of NdFeB permanent magnet material industry in China. From the perspective of resource recycling, NdFeB production and processing recycled materials are extremely valuable renewable resources. If they are not recycled, it will cause waste of valuable rare earth resources and huge environmental hazards. In order to reduce the environmental harm caused by rare earth mining, China has always implemented strict rare earth production quota control to control the mining of rare earth ore. The recycled materials for Nd-Fe-B production and processing have become one of the important raw materials for rare earth smelting and separation enterprises in China. Throughout the production and supply chain of China’s rare earth to NdFeB permanent magnet materials, the recycling of rare earth elements is very sufficient, with a recovery rate of nearly 100%, which effectively avoids the waste of high-value rare earth elements and makes China’s NdFeB permanent magnet materials more competitive in the international market. The revision and implementation of the national standard of Recycled Materials for Nd-Fe-B Production and Processing is conducive to standardizing the classification, recovery and trade of recycled materials for Nd-Fe-B production and processing, and is conducive to the recycling of rare earth resources, reducing resource consumption and reducing environmental hazards in China. The implementation of the standard is expected to bring good economic benefits and social value, and contribute to the sustainable development of China’s rare earth industry Healthy development!
Post time: Sep-28-2021