Finished projects
Covid-19 Booster Call
Magneti Ljubljana d.d had received funding from the EIT RawMaterials under the Covid-19 Booster call to accelerate the industrial production of two newly developed Sm2Co17 grades, previously validated in Laboratory. The grades offer improved magnetic properties of higher straightness of demagnetization curves, and/or remanence and maximum energy product in comparison to the existing serial production SmCo magnets. The new grades are closing the gap in the magnetic properties with the dominant REE-permanent magnets; NdFeB. The project started on 6th of July 2020 and it aims to validate the grades in pilot production by December 2020.
Project MaXycle – A novel circular economy for sustainable RE-based magnets
The project is funded by ERA MIN 2 under H2020. The objective of this project is to create a much more environmentally friendly ‘short cycle’ re-processing route achieved by: a) the development of an eco-labelling system for newly produced RE permanent magnets, b) using the highly effective HPMS process by re-processing the extracted materials directly from the NdFeB alloy, c) better treatments to eliminate pre-processing residue, d) upgrading the magnetic properties of EOL NdFeB magnets by tailoring the microstructure and phase composition and e) elaborating the industrial up-scalability, including a thorough life cycle assessment. MaXycle will have a great impact to overcome the issue of low recycling rates suffering from poor collection, high leakages of collected materials and inappropriate interface management between logistics, and mechanical pre-processing and metallurgical metals recovery.
Project: Effective recycling of sludge in the production of Sm2Co17 magnets for the economy without waste
The project is funded by the Slovenian Research Agency and is carried out in cooperation with the Jožef Stefan Institute. The focus of the project is to develop either direct or indirect recycling of the sludge that forms during mechanical shaping of SmCo magnets. Direct recycling is focusing on the reuse of purified SmCo powders left from the sludge. Indirect recycling is focused on a process to extract metals from the same sludge. This is a step towards a circular economy, which is one of the main goals of today’s European strategy for critical raw materials. The idea is to find an alternative method for recovering these materials that has never been used before.
Project NANOPYME
The project addresses the design and development of nanocrystalline permanent magnets without rare earths, making use of two complementary approaches. The achievements made will be translated to the synthesis of novel hybrid nanostructures based on metals and ferrites in order to combine the complementary magnetic properties of both materials types. Our approach proposes to take advantage of the recent advances in nanoscience to be used in the design of these new permanent magnets.
In terms of practical applications, the improved magnetic performance of these newly designed rare-earth-free permanent magnets will guarantee their use in some modern applications which are currently covered by more expensive low-energy-range rare-earth permanent magnets.
Project REMANENCE
The project brought together Europe’s leading experts in sensing, disassembly, recycling technology and materials processing in a multi-disciplinary project able to deliver significant technical advances.
The partners developed new and innovative processes for the recovery and recycling of neodymium iron boron magnets (NdFeB) from a range of waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE).
The aim was to recover material in a form that can easily re-enter the primary magnet manufacturing production route, so providing large energy savings and reduced production costs for European manufacturers.
Project MAGDRIVE
The goal of the project was the development of magnets with properties suitable for application in electric vehicles. New magnets will have high magnetic flux at high temperatures, good resistance to external magnetic fields and good resistance to corrosion.
Project DEMETER
The project is a part of European Training Network. An intersectoral and interdisciplinary consortium of leading EU universities, research institutes and manufacturers from the automotive and magnet sector trains 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs). The research challenges include the development of hydrogen-based grain-refinement technologies to produce nanograin magnets directly from scrap magnets, the recovery of rare earths from SmCo and NdFeB magnets of motors/generators by ionometallurgical methods, and the design of motors/generators with reusable magnets, where the designs are based on 2D and 3D flux paths as well as non-traditional materials.
Project: 3D MAGNET – 3D Printed Polymer Bonded Magnets
The project is funded by the Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology and the European Regional Development Fund. The focus of the project is to implement the technology of 3D printing in the field of polymer bonded magnets. The introduction of 3D printing using the method of Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) as an alternative technology for the production of polymer bonded magnets is aimed at lowering the costs of small-scale production while preserving good magnetic and mechanical properties, such as those obtainable by injection moulding. The main goals of the research project are to identify: (i) the optimal composition and properties of compound (filament) used for 3D printing of polymer bonded magnets and (ii) the optimal processing parameters of 3D printing which would give printed polymer bonded magnets characteristics similar to those produced by injection moulding.
