Seminar reveals rare earth research and application results
VOV.VN - The outcomes of research conducted on rare earth, as well as difficulties faced during the process and future orientations in the work, were shared at a seminar held on May 25 in Hanoi.
Pham Quang Minh, director of the Institute for Technology of Radioactive and Rare Elements under the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, said that the application of rare earth products has been on the rise over recent years, especially in the agricultural sector which produces clean and safe farm produce.
Vietnam is home to the second largest rare earth reserve in the world behind China and has yet to develop a processing factory which is capable of processing rare earth, Minh said, stressing the need for closer co-ordination among management agencies, scientists, and enterprises in a bid to promote the rare earth sector.
He said that 26% of the exploited rare earth output in worldwide has been used as catalysts in the oil and gas industry and in catalytic converters for automobiles with internal combustion engines, while about 20% to 23% is used in the production of permanent magnets for electric motors.
Meanwhile, the group of rare earth applied in agriculture is added to fertilisers and micro-fertilisers as a way of improving production and plant resilience against pests and diseases. It has also been trialed with animal feed.
The seminar highlighted Vietnamese achievements in researching and applying rare earth. It also provided a chance for the country to promote co-operation in technology transfer with others such as India, the Republic of Korea, and Japan.
Within the framework of the seminar, the Institute for Technology of Radioactive and Rare Earth and the Institute for Research and Development of New Technologies signed a co-operation agreement on the application of rare earth.