Iron powder indispensable supplement to renewable energy sources

Philip de Goey recently spoke with Innovation Origins about iron powder as a good and necessary addition to current energy sources. Innovation Origins regularly speaks with leading minds who are high on the innovation ladder. So this time they pay attention to burning iron powder to generate energy. "Both for generating and storing energy, iron powder can make all the difference," said Philip de Goey.

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How exactly does iron powder combustion work?

"Iron powder can be burned, just like coal or gas. This releases heat, which can be used in industry, for example. After combustion, rust powder is left over. We can convert that back into iron powder by pumping hydrogen through it. That way the process starts all over again, without any CO2 involved," De Goey explains. There is enough iron powder to do this on a large scale, according to the professor. "There is a lot of iron in the earth's crust. Moreover, other industries are also looking at how to convert iron oxide into iron using renewable energy."

How far along is the research at this point?

"The first trial runs have been done and they are promising. Now we need to start looking at scaling up. Right now we have an installation of 100 kilowatts, 0.1 megawatts. That's about equivalent in power to a couple of cars. We are also working on an OP South project with a 1 megawatt system. But we still have a lot of steps to go. A system usable in industry needs a power of about 10 megawatts. I expect that after the 10 megawatts, we can scale up pretty quickly to even larger systems that really come close to the coal-fired plants. Ultimately, we want to use iron powder to replace coal in coal-fired power plants."

"To make this happen, we are doing both fundamental and practical research. On the one hand, we are trying to better understand and optimize combustion, and on the other hand, we are working on practical solutions that also involve companies. The various projects also involve student team SOLID." For the fundamental research, De Goey had a grant from the European Research Counsil (ERC) last month. "The jury was mainly enthusiastic about our approach. Based on information about a single burning particle and its interaction with other particles, we build models for a large practical flame."

Why is it important to know in detail how combustion occurs?

"Before you burn metal, it first melts. The droplets must not boil, then you get gas from which very small (nano) particles can be formed. Those particles are hard to catch, which is why you can inhale them. That is bad for your health. So we have to prevent the droplets of metal from boiling. With iron powder, the temperature at which they burn is below the boiling point. That's what makes iron powder so suitable for this form of combustion. With aluminum, for example, the combustion point is above the boiling point, so then you have a much greater chance of these nanoparticles. So it's very important to test and measure these things extensively."

"We are collaborating around this area with a McGill University, a Canadian university. They have been studying the combustion process for longer than we have been doing in the Netherlands. We focus more on practice. That ensures that the cooperation goes well."

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