Iron-fuel combustors to power mining operations

不断上涨的能源成本是魁北克和加拿大采矿业面临的一个严重问题。对于Cote Nord地区的铁工业来说，另一个问题是生产后以及在储存和运输过程中铁球团的聚集或烧结。Qube-4D目前正在寻找新的解决方案，既解决运输中的铁球团烧结问题，又为这种偏远的采矿作业提供电力需求，以抵消目前柴油的使用。金属是还原的材料，金属生产过程的主要能量输入是将开采的金属氧化物中的氧气去除到纯金属中所需的能量，因此可以被氧化或燃烧以释放能量。麦吉尔的替代燃料实验室正在积极研究利用金属与空气的直接燃烧以及金属与水的反应来产生热量和氢气，作为低碳能源商品。金属燃料可以减少我们对化石燃料资源的依赖，并使来自太阳能、风能或核能的清洁一次能源的储存和交易成为可能。采矿业，乃至更广泛的朝鲜，都需要必须通过远程运输的能源，比如随处可见的用于发电的柴油。目前的Engage赠款将与Qube-4D工程师合作，研究在燃烧系统中将铁球部分氧化以使其干燥并防止其烧结的概念，以及使用铁作为可回收燃料为矿山运营提供后备或连续动力。金属燃料可以以高密度储存清洁能源，也可以快速燃烧，以提供今天只能通过化石燃料燃烧提供的高功率水平。

Increasing energy costs are a serious problem for the mining industries in Quebec and Canada. For the iron industry in the Cote Nord region, another problem is the congregation or sintering of the iron pellets after production and during storage and transport. Qube-4D is currently looking for novel solutions to both the problem of sintering of iron pellets in transport and for providing power needs to such remote mining operations to offset the current use of diesel fuel. Metals are reduced materials, with the primary energy input into the metal-production process being that required to remove the oxygen from the mined metal oxides into the pure metal, that can therefore be oxidized, or burned, to release energy. The Alternative Fuels Laboratory at McGill is actively investigating the use of direct metal combustion with air and the reaction of metals with water, to produce heat and hydrogen, as low-carbon energy commodities. Metal fuels could reduce our dependence on fossil-fuel resources and enable the storage and trade of clean primary energy from solar, wind, or nuclear resources. The mining industry, as well as the North more broadly, requires energy that must be shipped in remotely, such as the diesel fuel that is ubiquitously burned for power generation. The present Engage grant will investigate, in collaboration with Qube-4D engineers, the concept of partially oxidizing the iron pellets in a combustion system to dry and protect them from sintering, as well as the use of iron as a recyclable fuel for providing back up, or continuous, power for mine operation. Metal fuels allow the storage of clean energy at high density and can also be burned at fast rates to provide the high power levels that, today, can only be provided by fossil fuel combustion.