Iron Powders as Energy Carrier for Storage and Conversion of Renewables

As widely acknowledged, it is mandatory to decarbonize our energy system. This requires not only major investments in solar and wind energy, but also in means to store energy from these fluctuating resources. Battery storage is not suitable for large-scale storage for many reasons including size and prize. Furthermore, hydrogen has a relatively low energy density, even under high pressure or cryogenic circumstances. A low-cost alternative with much higher energy density is metal powder; renewable electricity can be used to reduce metal oxide to metal, that can be stored under ambient conditions and combusted (=oxidised) whenever energy is needed, providing fully renewable heat.
The fundamental understanding of metal powder as a dense energy carrier for a truly circular and renewable Zero-Carbon Energy Storage and Conversion System is still largely lacking. A multidisciplinary approach to establish a sound fundamental knowledge basis for this breakthrough concept is needed. In this presentation various aspects of the oxidation-reduction cycles will be shown. As well among them the particle changes after each cycle and the change of the laminar burning velocity of a hybrid methane-air flame.