From the Community Research and Development Information Service, news on three strategic projects that aim to deal with the problem of the presence of rare earth elements in the construction of permanent magnet motors. From the geopolitical problems resulting from the almost monopoly of Chinese rare earth elements, to the engineering solutions for the reduction of their use in magnets and the replacement of the magnets themselves.
The supply of rare earth elements and the Venus Project
Most of the efficient electrical machines use permanent magnets consist of rare earth elements such as neodymium (light rare earth elements) and dysprosium (heavy rare earth elements). 95% of the global supply of these materials come from China and it is feared that the Country can reduce exports again as it happened in 2010.
For this reason the VENUS Project aimed to design electric machines with materials different from rare earth elements or even without magnets. The team has followed two routes in parallel – the use of switched reluctance motors (SRM) or the use of synchronous reluctance motors with permanent magnets ((PM) SynRM).
As Dr. Madariaga explains, VENUS is divided into three phases – design, production and integration into an Azure Ford Transit Connect, followed by driving tests. Extraordinary improvements have already been made in the design and Dr. Madariaga predicts that the team will begin the manufacture of the first prototype by April, proceeding following the integration in the vehicle.
The Romeo Project for the permanent magnets
The ROMEO Project deals with the drastic decrease in the amount of heavy rare earth elements needed in the permanent magnets into the renewable energies field and with the complete replacement of the permanent magnets with new magnetic materials. It is about improving the properties of magnets through microstructural engineering and developing magnets without rare earth elements.
Professor Spomenka Kobe says: “ROMEO has two main objectives – the first is to develop different strategies of microstructural engineering in order to drastically improve magnets properties with a radical reduction of the heavy rare earth elements or purely based on elements of light rare earth; the second is the development of a completely free of rare earth elements magnet “.
Although the project will not end before the end of this year, the first of these objectives, which will allow the use of magnets to temperatures above 100 degrees, it has already been reached. The exploitation of ROMEO results happen now in two phases: from idea to prototype and from prototype to market.
The Refreepermag Project
As Dr. Niarchos hopes, the REFREEPERMAG Project aims to achieve lasting and sustainable replacement to the materials of critical supply needed for innovations in sectors with high technological content of European industry. Allowing reliable substitutes, the project will contribute to the transition to no rare earth resources for devices in the display technologies and microsensors in which the substitution is not possible and to the cost decrease of raw materials of rare earth elements. The project is the first to have adopted a combinatorial approach to the development of permanent magnet without rare earth elements.
Sammy