WPI Team Recovers Rare Earth Elements From Discarded Motors of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.wpi.edu/news/20156/engines.html

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Engines of Change: WPI Team Recovers Rare Earth Elements From Discarded Motors of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles[/font]

[font size=4]WPI lab one of the only facilities in the nation able to conduct this research; may lead to gains for US auto industry and lessen dependence on China [/font]

[font size=3]In an effort to help develop a sustainable domestic supply of rare earth elements and lessen the United States' dependence on China for materials that are vital to the production of electronics, wind turbines, and many other technologies, two researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have developed a method of extracting rare earths from the drive units and motors of discarded electric and hybrid cars.

With support from WPI's Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling (CR3), Marion Emmert, assistant professor of chemistry, chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering at WPI, and postdoctoral fellow H.M. Dhammika Bandara conduct research at WPI’s Gateway Park in a specially equipped laboratory, one of the only such facilities of its kind in the nation.

Working there, the pair has created the novel method for processing drive units and electric motors to chemically separate rare earth elements – specifically neodymium, dysprosium, and praseodymium – from other materials used to make the devices. The goal is to recycle rare earths that would otherwise be lost in a sustainable and efficient manner.

To test the process, the WPI researchers sliced the drive unit (which contains the electric motor and other components of the drive train) of an all-electric Chevrolet Spark vehicle into several pieces and then shredded the pieces. Using a two-step chemical extraction process, they were able to separate the rare earth elements and also recover other recyclable materials, including steel chips and other useful materials from the drive units.

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[eppur_se_muova]

1. PSA: Don't say "one of the only". Say "one of the few". nt

[caraher]

3. A huge pet peeve of mine

I'm glad I'm not alone!

[mopinko]

2. are these elements present in coal ash?

i keep asking this question- why arent we extracting metals from coal ash? i mean, it is already a slurry. simple to go from there to extract whatever useful metals are in the ash.
not sure how much market there is for arsenic, but pretty sure there is a good market for all the heavy metal contaminants.
also assume that once these metals are removed the remaining ash would be good for something like a soil amendment or fertilizer.

cant wait for the day we wake up and start mining our garbage.

[kristopher]

4. Just for reference

https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/viewTableH.cfm?tableid=67

http://www.lgcstandards.com/ES/en/Coal-fly-ash-Trace-and-constituent-elements/p/NIST-1633C

[mopinko]

5. seems feasible then,

since, apparently it is being done. it should be required.