Inner Mongolia overcomes the technical gap in hydrogen recovery within the neodymium-iron-boron hydrogen fragmentation sector

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An independently developed technology by the Baotou Rare Earth Research Institute has achieved a significant breakthrough. The “rare earth solid-state hydrogen storage – hydrogen recovery system” developed by this institute has been successfully demonstrated in the ton-scale neodymium-iron-boron hydrogen fragment industry. This marks the first time in our country that rare earth solid-state hydrogen storage technology has been used to achieve efficient recovery and recycling of hydrogen in the large-scale production of neodymium-iron-boron magnets, providing key technical support for the green and high-quality development of related industries. Neodymium-iron-boron is an important rare-earth functional material, with China’s annual production exceeding 300,000 tons. In the process of preparing its powder, \"hydrogen crushing\" is a necessary step; however, in the past, the hydrogen used in this process was directly released after the reaction, resulting in significant waste of resources. Achieving the recovery and recycled supply of hydrogen has become an urgent need for industrial upgrading. Rare earth solid-state hydrogen storage technology is regarded as a promising solution in the field of hydrogen recovery due to its high hydrogen storage density, good safety, and low operating pressure. However, traditional solid-state hydrogen storage technologies struggle to meet the stringent requirements for large-scale and rapid hydrogen supply at certain stages of the hydrogen cracking process. To address this technical bottleneck, the Baotou Rare Earth Research Institute, in collaboration with the Rare Earth New Materials Technology Innovation Center and Baotou Jinchuang Technology Co., Ltd., focused on the actual pain points in the industry and successfully developed a new type of rare earth solid-state hydrogen storage system. It is reported that the key breakthrough of this system lies in its ability to meet both the requirements of \"low-pressure recovery\" of waste hydrogen and \"high-pressure supply\" of fresh hydrogen in the hydrogen fragmentation process, and it has successfully solved the technical challenge of providing hydrogen at high rates for extended periods during the hydrogen absorption \"peak phase\" in ton-scale production. This successful large-scale demonstration application not only fills the technical gap in hydrogen recovery within the field of neodymium-iron-boron hydrogen fragments, but also provides a new way for making high-value use of rare earth elements with higher abundances such as lanthanum and cerium. The practical application of this technology represents a concrete effort by Baotou Steel Group to advance the high-quality development of the \"two rare earth bases.\" It lays a solid foundation in terms of research and application for the development of related industries during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, and it plays a positive role in promoting energy conservation, emission reduction, and efficient utilization of resources in China’s rare earth industry.