Iron as a zero-carbon sustainable fuel for industrial heat and remote power

铁作为工业供热和远程电力的零碳可持续燃料

• 批准号: 570486-2021
• 负责人: Bergthorson, Jeffrey
• 金额: $ 16.31万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Alliance Grants
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=722025
• 关键词: Iron; zero; carbon; sustainable; fuel

On demand access to clean and reliable energy is essential to Canada meeting its climate change targets and transitioning to a prosperous low-carbon society. The Alternative Fuels Laboratory at McGill has led an international research and development effort focused on the use of metals, specifically iron and aluminum, as carbon-free and recyclable fuels for industrial heating and remote power applications. Through a previous NSERC Strategic grant, our team developed a novel iron-fuelled burner and product collection system, and filed a provisional patent application to protect this intellectual property. We have proven that we can efficiently stabilize a turbulent pure-iron flame and effectively capture the iron-oxide combustion products without measurable loss or pollutant emissions, while generating high-grade heat. The next step is to demonstrate that the fuel can be burned, captured, recycled, and burned again, closing the loop to prove that iron can be a sustainable circular fuel without loss over many cycles. To achieve these goals, this project brings together five co-investigators at McGill and four industrial partners: Rio Tinto Iron & Titanium, Hoeganaes Corp., Tata Steel, and AgnicoEagle. Rio Tinto, Tata Steel, and Hoeganaes are iron powder suppliers looking for new markets for their iron powders as a recyclable fuel, and will supply iron powder and recycle the burned iron oxide products, to demonstrate that the iron fuel can be used in a closed loop. AgnicoEagle operates remote mines and has identified iron fuel as a potential option for remote heat and power that will enable them to achieve their decarbonization targets; within this project they will help with the life-cycle and techno-economic analyses to build the business case for further investment. Through these collaborations, the knowledge generated in the project will be effectively transferred to key decision makers that can help us mobilize the knowledge and transfer the technology. We plan to scale-up the technology through a spinoff company that will commercialize iron as a carbon-free fuel for Canadian industry over the next 5 years, bringing economic and environmental benefits to our partners and Canadian society.

按要求获得清洁和可靠的能源对于达到其气候变化目标并过渡到繁荣的低碳社会至关重要。 麦吉尔（McGill）的替代燃料实验室领导了一项致力于使用金属（特别是铁和铝）的国际研发工作，作为工业供暖和远程电力应用的无碳和可回收燃料。 通过以前的NSERC战略赠款，我们的团队开发了一种新颖的铁燃料燃烧器和产品收集系统，并提交了临时专利申请，以保护这一知识产权。我们已经证明，我们可以有效地稳定湍流的纯铁火焰，并有效地捕获铁氧化物燃烧产物，而无需可测量的损失或污染物排放，同时产生高级热量。下一步是证明燃料可以被燃烧，捕获，回收并再次燃烧，关闭环路以证明铁可以是可持续的圆形燃料，而不会因许多周期而损失。 为了实现这些目标，该项目汇集了麦吉尔和四个工业合作伙伴的五个共同研究人员：里约热内卢铁和钛，霍加纳斯公司，塔塔钢铁和agnicoeagle。 Rio Tinto，Tata Steel和Hoeganaes是铁粉供应商，寻找将其铁粉作为可回收燃料的新市场，并将提供铁粉并回收燃烧的氧化铁产品，以证明铁燃料可用于封闭的铁燃料环形。 Agnicoeagle运营偏远的矿山，并将铁燃料确定为远程热量和功率的潜在选择，这将使它们能够实现其脱碳目标；在这个项目中，他们将有助于进行生命周期和技术经济分析，以建立业务案例以进行进一步的投资。通过这些合作，项目中产生的知识将有效地转移给关键决策者，这些决策者可以帮助我们动员知识并转移技术。我们计划通过一家衍生公司扩大技术，该公司将在未来5年内将铁作为加拿大工业的无碳燃料进行商业化，从而为我们的合作伙伴和加拿大社会带来了经济和环境利益。