Unraveling the combustion of metal powder

Sun and wind are not always and everywhere available, so how do you temporarily store that energy? A group of researchers at TU Eindhoven sees a dream candidate in metal powder: CO2-free, reusable and with a high energy density. The first results are promising, but in order to deploy the technology on a large scale, it is first necessary to understand and control the combustion of those metal particles in detail. With an Advanced Grant of 2.5 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC), Professor of Combustion Technology Philip de Goey will now answer that "burning" question.

Burning fuels - efficiently and cleanly - is central to the professor of combustion technology's research. Research labs around the world use the methods developed by his group to understand and control in detail the combustion of natural gas and other fossil fuels. Recently, he has begun focusing on a new mystery: metal powders, known internationally as "metal fuels. 

Nine PhD students will work on fundamental research on combustion, six funded from this ERC grant, two from a recently awarded NWO-TTW project and one with a CSC grant from China. Several PhD students are also working on the reverse process, where metal oxides are converted back to metals (known in chemistry as "reduction"), under Professor Niels Deen. After this step, it comes full circle and you can burn the metal powder again.

An elaborate article has been published on the TU/E site in which Philip explains what it is all about, what is needed and how work is coming to understand and control the combustion of metal particles. Click here to read the full article.