A Study on Burning Iron Particles as Carbon-Free Circular Fuels with co-Generation of Value-Added Nanomaterials

燃烧铁颗粒作为无碳循环燃料并联产增值纳米材料的研究

• 批准号: 2324411
• 负责人: Yiannis Levendis
• 金额: $ 59.48万
• 依托单位: Northeastern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2324411&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Study; Burning; Iron; Particles; Carbon

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYEnergy transition from fossil fuels to renewables is necessary to mitigate climate change and, thereby, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare. However, renewable energy, mostly solar or wind, is not always available at the location or the time when demand is high (e.g., in high earth latitudes, winter months, evenings). Hence, a cost-competitive and effective renewable energy carrier must be able to store available energy and transport energy to be used where and when it is needed. This would enable storage and/or transportation of renewable energy over long distances. Surprisingly to most people, a promising energy carrier candidate is iron powder. The iron fuel cycle could offer an abundant green energy source and storage methodology to help meet the world’s growing energy needs. Submillimeter sized iron powder can be manufactured from scrap metal with existing industrial techniques, it can be transported to either existing or dedicated electric utility or industrial furnaces, where it can be ignited and burned like pulverized coal. During combustion, these iron particles generate iron oxide particles of sizes similar to the input iron particles. The energy emitted during combustion (heat) can be used to generate steam which, thereafter, can spin a steam turbine and generate electricity. Spent iron oxide particles can be reduced back to iron, using green hydrogen and energy, both of which can be obtained from solar panels or wind turbines. This research is advancing the science of powdered iron as a “circular fuel” and is fully characterizing the products and any generated byproducts (such as nanosized oxide particles) while also identifying appropriate applications for the latter materials, such as in supercapacitors, lithium battery anodes, catalysts, environmental cleanup agents as well as materials for medical imaging, targeting, drug delivery, and biosensing. This research is educating graduate and undergraduate students in the benefits and challenges of sustainable energy harvesting and storage, as well as combustion generated materials. TECHNICAL SUMMARYIron is a compelling candidate for a carbon-free circular fuel due to its abundance, high energy density, and strong ability to store and transport energy. Iron can be ignited and burned at elevated temperatures (2000 K) and, thus, it can be a direct replacement for coal in coal-fired boilers. By leveraging existing infrastructure for carbon-free power generation, iron fuel can be transformative to the utility industry. It generates zero emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), zero emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), zero emissions of unburned hydrocarbons HC) and ultra-low emissions of nitrous oxide (NOx). Currently, the iron fuel cycle has incomplete scientific understanding and results in the generation of some nanomaterial byproducts, typically considered a waste stream. Instead, it is hypothesized that these iron-based nanomaterials can yield high-value products. The proposed research is generating fundamental understanding of the physical transformations that occur during the burning of iron particles and the conditions that produce value-added iron-based nanomaterials. The goal of the project is to determine process-structure-property relationships in two distinct streams of use-inspired products: submillimeter-sized oxide particles that can be recycled back to iron, and nano-sized particles with considerable monodispersity and tailorable properties. Success is being assessed by generating a comprehensive data set on thoroughly-measured iron combustion parameters, fully characterizing the produced nanoparticles and completing an energy/exergy analysis to identify irreversibilities within the fuel cycle.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

从化石燃料到可再生能源的能源过渡对于减缓气候变化是必要的，从而促进国家健康，繁荣和福利。然而，可再生能源，主要是太阳能或风能，并不总是在需求高的位置或时间可用（例如，在地球高纬度地区，冬季月份，晚上）。因此，一个具有成本竞争力和有效的可再生能源载体必须能够储存可用的能源和运输能源，以便在需要的地方和时间使用。 这将使可再生能源的储存和/或长距离运输成为可能。令大多数人惊讶的是，一个有前途的能量载体候选人是铁粉。铁燃料循环可以提供丰富的绿色能源和储存方法，以帮助满足世界日益增长的能源需求。亚毫米大小的铁粉可以用现有的工业技术从废金属中制造出来，它可以被运输到现有的或专用的电力设施或工业炉中，在那里它可以像煤粉一样被点燃和燃烧。在燃烧过程中，这些铁颗粒产生与输入的铁颗粒尺寸相似的氧化铁颗粒。燃烧过程中释放的能量（热）可用于产生蒸汽，蒸汽随后可使蒸汽涡轮机旋转并发电。使用绿色氢和能源，可以将废氧化铁颗粒还原为铁，这两种能源都可以从太阳能电池板或风力涡轮机中获得。这项研究正在推进铁粉作为“循环燃料”的科学，并充分表征产品和任何产生的副产品（如纳米氧化物颗粒），同时还确定了后者材料的适当应用，如超级电容器，锂电池阳极，催化剂，环境清洁剂以及医学成像，靶向，药物输送和生物传感材料。 这项研究正在教育研究生和本科生了解可持续能源收集和储存以及燃烧产生的材料的好处和挑战。技术概述铁是无碳循环燃料的一个引人注目的候选者，因为它的丰富性，高能量密度和强大的储存和运输能量的能力。铁可以在高温（2000 K）下点燃和燃烧，因此它可以直接替代燃煤锅炉中的煤。通过利用现有的无碳发电基础设施，铁燃料可以对公用事业行业产生变革性影响。它产生零排放的二氧化碳（CO2），零排放的二氧化硫（SO2），零排放的未燃烧的碳氢化合物（HC）和超低排放的一氧化二氮（NOx）。目前，对铁燃料循环的科学认识还不完整，并导致产生一些纳米材料副产品，通常被认为是废物流。相反，假设这些铁基纳米材料可以产生高价值的产品。拟议的研究正在对铁颗粒燃烧过程中发生的物理转变以及产生增值铁基纳米材料的条件产生基本的理解。该项目的目标是确定两种不同的受使用启发的产品流的工艺-结构-性能关系：可以回收回铁的亚毫米大小的氧化物颗粒，以及具有相当大的单分散性和可定制性能的纳米尺寸颗粒。成功的评估是通过生成一个全面的数据集上彻底测量的铁燃烧参数，充分表征所产生的纳米颗粒，并完成能量/火用分析，以确定燃料循环中的不可逆性。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。