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Metal fuels

Metal fuels

2022
EMERGING TECH

Metals as recyclable carbon neutral fuels are promising alternatives to fossil fuels.

Metals have high energy densities and serve as fuels in many batteries, energy materials, and propellants. Metal fuels can be burned with air or made to react with water to release their chemical energy in a range of power-generation scales. Metal-oxide combustion products are solids that can be recycled, enabling metals to be used as recyclable carbon neutral solar fuels or electro-fuels.



  • Electro-fuels are primarily produced from electricity, during the reduction process to convert spent combustion/oxidation products back into reactive fuel.

  • Potential metal fuel candidates. The element must be oxidized by O2 from air, with high specific energy, be cheap and non-toxic [62]


The oxidation and reduction of metal fuels can be decoupled in terms of time and location…




Advantages: using a solid fuel facilitates the CO2 free closed loop owing to green H2 reduction




Advantages

  • Iron easy to transport
  • CO2/NOx/SOx free cycle
  • Iron oxide easy to collect
  • Metal fuels present higher energy density and specific energy than liquid fuels when oxidized 



Challenges: a new energy generation system with a low maturity level TRL 3-5 and a few technical hurdles



Maturity and market players 


Metal powder

  • Pometon powder (IT)
  • Laiwu (CN)
  • JFE Steel Corp (JP)
  • Hoganas (SE)
  • Wuhan iron & steel (CN)
  • Rio Tinto (US)
  • MA Steel (CN)
  • Kobelco (JP)
  • CNPC powder (CN)
  • Hangzhou Ytong New Material (CN)
  • Anshan Iron & steel (CN)

Oxidation

  • TUEindhoven
  • Shell
  • Uniper
  • EMGroup
  • Romico Hold
  • Airbus
  • McGill
  • Ruhr Universität Bochum
  • + all other players using metal powders as propellants

Reduction

  • Doosan
  • Vattenfal
  • Swedish steel

Bibliography

[61] Berghthorson J. M., 2018. Recyclable metal fuels for clean and compact zero-carbon power. Progress in energy and combustion sciences 68 (2018) 169-196
[62] Berghthorson J. M., 2017. Corrigendum to ‘‘Direct combustion of recyclable metal fuels for zero-carbon heat and power”. Appl. Energy 160 (2015) 368–382
[63] MEZECAPO – project proposal submitted to EU in 2018, H2020 
[64] iFUEL – project proposal submitted to EU in 2019 (EC-H2020-FETPROACT-EIC-05-2019)
[65] IEA, 2021. Coal Information: Overview - Production.
[66] Personal communication from Shell, November 2019
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