Recovering rare earth metals from magnet scrap
US10323299B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 28, 2016 |
| Grant date | Jun 18, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 5, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02P10/20
- WIPO fieldMaterials, metallurgy
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A method is provided for treating a rare earth metal-bearing scrap material by melting an extractant selected from the group consisting of bismuth (Bi) and lead (Pb) and contacting the melted extractant and the scrap material at a temperature and time to recover at least one of the light rare earth metal content and the heavy rare earth metal content as a metallic extractant alloy, which can be subjected to vacuum distillation or sublimation to recover the rare earth metal(s). The method can be practiced to recover the light rare earth metal content and the heavy rare earth metal content concurrently in a one-step process or separately and sequentially in a two-step process.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.