Dutch Section of The Combustion Institute (DSCI) Webinar 15
Title: The unique problems of iron-dust combustion and its applications
Speaker: XiaoCheng Mi, Power & Flow Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven Institute of Renewable Energy Systems (EIRES), Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Abstract: Iron is an excellent fuel for long-term storage and long-distance transport of clean energy owing to its carbon-free nature, high energy density, and potential of non-volatile combustion in air. Iron power is now considered as the most promising candidate to establish a Metal-enabled Cycle of Renewable Energy (MeCRE) on a global scale. An iron-dust combustor for power generation lies at the heart of the development of MeCRE. To build and optimize such a combustor, although a decent amount of knowledge in the combustion of conventional solid (or liquid) fuels is useful, numerous unique questions rooted in iron-dust combustion must be answered. First, owing to their high boiling point, iron particles remain mostly in condensed phases during the combustion process. This heterogeneous nature makes the combustion behaviors of iron particles intrinsically different from volatile solid fuels, e.g., coal, biomass, and aluminum particles. A better understanding of the unique physics underlying the oxidation of iron particles provides us with a foundation for accurately calculating the heat release rate (HRR) of iron-dust flames. In the first part of this webinar, a thorough overview of the experimental and theoretical efforts devoted into the fundamentals of iron-particle oxidation is presented. Another important feature of iron-dust flames is their spatial non-uniformity. The non-volatile nature of iron combustion results in a heat release initially concentrated at each particle, giving rise to a spatially discrete flame propagation behavior. This non-uniform picture is likely further complicated when iron particles burn in a turbulence (at application-relevant conditions)—particle clustering occurs in a regime of high Stokes number (Stk~10-100) due to the high density of iron. Challenges and ongoing efforts made towards understanding the highly non-uniform nature of iron-dust flames are elucidated in the second part of this webinar.
Zoom Link: https://tudelft.zoom.us/j/98649656652