Iron oxide: the infinite fuel that can kill gas heating

A novel iron oxide-based fuel that promises cheaper and more efficient heating systems so we don’t have to worry about the price of gas

RIFT (Renewable Iron Fuel Technology), a company formed by alumni of the Technical University of Eindhoven, has been working for four years to turn its novel iron fuel into an efficient and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. The researchers have managed to get their creation out of the laboratory and have created a prototype of their boiler of one megawatt of power that will be tested in 500 homes.

The idea of turning iron into fuel emerged in 2018 in the laboratory of a group of students from the Technical University of Eindhoven called SOLID. According to their website, the ambitious goal of this group is neither more nor less than “to allow access to clean and renewable energy for all people, at all times.”

Some members of SOLID ended up founding RIFT. And that discovery with iron dust is now, according to its creators, an energy storage system that does not emit CO2, which is fully reusable, safe, compact and easily transportable. The efficiency of the fuel as a heat generator was already proven a couple of years ago when they did a pilot test at the Swinkels family brewery in Bavaria. The brewing process consumes a lot of heat and the new iron-fueled system – built between members of SOLID and the Dutch company Metal Power Consortium – is capable of producing about 15 million glasses of beer per year.

A similar system is now being used in a pilot experiment with heating company Ennatuurlijk that will heat 500 homes in the municipality of Helmond near Eindhoven.

How Iron Fuel Works

As RIFT explains, what is basically done is to oxidize and deoxidize iron. For oxidation, iron dust burns in the boiler, a process that releases enormous amounts of heat and produces energy that is converted into steam or hot water, resulting in rust dust. Deoxidation is done using hydrogen, which through a chemical reaction transforms the oxide powder back into iron powder, reloading the system.

“No CO is released in this process._2. In addition, nitrogen emissions during the process are much lower than those of coal or gas, “explains Mark Verhagen, CEO of RIFT and one of the members of SOLID who made this discovery four years ago.

Iron fuel, he says, has a high energy density—one cubic meter of iron fuel contains as much energy as eleven cubic meters of hydrogen at high pressure—but it’s also much safer to store and transport than hydrogen. Its high combustion temperature (up to 1,800 °C) means that it does not need to be stored at very low temperatures. In addition, that stored energy is not lost and can be stored for long periods of time.

Clean energy for industry and households

“Industrial processes and heating networks need large amounts of energy. And sustainable alternatives, such as electricity and hydrogen, cannot always provide it,” says Verhagen. “Our grids are not designed to supply so much energy to industry and also maintain their consumption in such a short period of time. That’s why in these sectors alternatives like iron dust are really important.”

RIFT plans to build a five-megawatt iron fuel power plant within two years. “With the current one-megawatt pilot, we are studying the most important components of the plant in a commercial setting. We can then continue to optimize the system and expand it to a five-megawatt system.” They also long ago announced plans to convert the first coal-fired power plants to iron-fueled power plants by 2030.

We will have to be attentive to the development of this new form of energy and see if it really fulfills everything it promises. For now it is on the right track, it is not always possible to move from scientific discovery to industrial application successfully. It remains to be seen whether their plans go ahead and whether they are able to replicate the system on a much larger scale. But, although the objective of RIFT and SOLID is ambitious, we are facing an energy crisis that can only be overcome by being ambitious as well. Betting on new energy sources beyond solar and wind is essential if we are to quickly meet emissions targets for 2050. But also to avoid dependence on other countries and get rid of the energy blackmail of satraps like Putin.

“I see iron fuel as an important sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, along with wind turbines, solar panels and hydrogen,” Verhagen says. Our goal is to be able to decarbonize heavy industry around the world with iron fuel.”

Source: The Confidential