System And Method For Producing Rare Earth Magnets From A Metal Powder Using Recycled Materials And Additive Manufacturing

A system for producing rare earth magnets from a metal powder comprising:

• a melting cold hearth atomization system for producing the metal powder from a scrap material,
• the melting cold hearth atomization system comprising a reactor configured to operate at a vacuum pressure and a melting cold hearth system in the reactor for melting the scrap material into a molten metal, the melting cold hearth system comprising a melting hearth, a plasma torch system for heating the scrap material and a feeder system for feeding the scrap material into the melting hearth without breaking the vacuum pressure;
• the melting cold hearth atomization system comprising an atomizer comprising an atomization tower in flow communication with the reactor configured to operate at the vacuum pressure and an atomizing die in the atomization tower having inert gas jets for spheroidizing the molten metal into powder particles, and a collection vessel configured to collect the metal powder without breaking the vacuum pressure;
• and
• an additive manufacturing system for building the rare earth magnets using the metal powder and an additive manufacturing process, the additive manufacturing system comprising a magnetic build plate configured to build the rare earth magnets with a selected geometrical shape.

A method for producing rare earth magnets from a metal powder comprising:

• providing a scrap material comprising a rare earth metal;
• providing a melting cold hearth atomization system for producing the metal powder;
• demagnetizing the scrap material;
• melting and atomizing the scrap material into the metal powder using the melting cold hearth atomization system;
• providing an additive manufacturing system having magnetic build plates;
• and
• building the rare earth magnets using the metal powder and the additive manufacturing system.