Pilot Action for Securing a Sustainable European Next Generation of Efficient RE-free magnets

Project Information

PASSENGER

Grant agreement ID: 101003914

DOI

10.3030/101003914

Project closed

EC signature date 7 May 2021

Start date 1 May 2021

End date 31 October 2025

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 11 309 888,75

EU contribution

€ 8 903 085,90

Coordinated by

FUNDACION IMDEA NANOCIENCIA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PASSENGER (Pilot Action for Securing a Sustainable European Next Generation of Efficient RE-free magnets)

Reporting period: 2022-11-01 to 2024-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Since Europe lacks exploitation of rare-earth elements (REE) deposits and recycling is not yet commercially feasible, the primary objective of the PASSENGER project is to mitigate the EU’s dependence on critical raw materials (CRMs) like REEs used in the fabrication of permanent magnets. PASSENGER is a transnational components substitution project with the general target of bringing to the market permanent magnets with no content of REEs and based on elements with natural resources that are widely abundant in Europe. In particular, PASSENGER will work on the development of improved strontium ferrite (Sr-ferrite) and manganese-aluminium-carbon (MnAlC) magnets in a number of applications where their excellent performance at high temperature, their intrinsic resistance to corrosion and their ease of recyclability mean that they will offer an attractive alternative to Nd-Fe-B magnets.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

After 18 months from starting, the industrial production of 160 kg of MnAlC and 4 tones of improved Sr-ferrite has been successfully achieved in PASSENGER. MnAlC has been produced for first time in Europe at an industrial environment in PASSENGER. The improvement of ferrite in PASSENGER -with no use of any critical raw material- has allowed to overcome one of the main limitations of ferrite magnets: the risk that magnets might become demagnetized when operating in cold environments (below 0 ºC), critical when thinking on e-mobility applications under cold environmental conditions. The next steps will include optimization of magnets fabrication and integration in electromobility and water motor pumps applications.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project’s goal will be achieved by developing and demonstrating 8 innovative pilot plants at TRL 7, with demonstration of functionality in electromobility applications and water motor pumps. The consortium consists of 21 partners (14 companies) from 8 countries.

The PASSENGER project has specific objectives that are designed to deliver the project goal of mitigating the EU’s dependence on REEs used in the fabrication of permanent magnets. The specific objectives cover four areas:

(i) Technical Objectives: up-scaled production (several tonnes per year) of REE-free permanent magnets with a major cost advantage by comparison NdFeB magnets.
(ii) Business Objectives: strengthen the project and ensure that the science and technology developed is converted into a European presence in the non-REE permanent-magnets market and the associated electromobility technologies.
(iii) Environmental Objectives: ensure the environmental credentials of the outcomes, while at the same time exploring the circularity of the used technologies.
(iv) Societal Objectives: Raise awareness by communicating findings to the public, university/research/industry, local and national governments and the EC. Cluster with related national and H2020 projects, with the EIT KIC raw materials, non-EU initiatives and global-standards organizations.

PASSENGER addresses an area of extreme criticality: permanent magnets are an economic, technological, environmental and social necessity. Europe’s almost total reliance on REE-based magnets is an extremely high-risk position to hold and could have severe, negative impacts across many technological sectors risking the achievement of the European Green Deal Objectives. The primary impacts of the PASSENGER project are:

• Dramatic reduction in Europe’s REE dependency.
• Reduce environmental impact.
• To scale up promising technologies for raw-materials production or the substitution of CRMs, to demonstrate that raw materials can be produced in an innovative and sustainable way, and to ensure that research and innovation end up on the market.
• The EU magnet industry will reposition itself in the world market based on new technologies.
• Reduced costs for the users of permanent magnets (based on much less costly raw materials) and increased revenues for magnet producers.

PASSENGER Workshop EIT expert forum Berlin, June 2022