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Rust, restore and repeat
The Swinkel Family Brewers of the Netherlands, in conjunction with the Metal Power consortium are using an innovative way of burning iron powder as fuel. If you grind iron powder very fine, much like flour, it burns very easily at high temperatures (1800° C, 3272° F). This produces a tremendous amount of energy which can then be used to drive steam turbines and produce electricity. The process is carbon dioxide free and the only waste product is iron oxide or rust. This can easily be converted back into iron powder using what they call reduction by using a sustainably produced source of hydrogen ie; generated via solar or wind power. The brewery has already produced 15 million glasses of beer using this new technology, and is the first industrial installation to use iron powder as a new,circular fuel.
The process is carbon dioxide free and the only waste product is iron oxide or rust.
Because it is a powder, it can be transported, stored very easily and for long periods of time without deteriorating.
The initial research was carried out by the Eindhoven University of Technology who had set up a special team of student researchers, named TEAM SOLID. This was in response to the Dutch government’s instructions to industry, that by 2022, they should stop using natural gas and find a sustainable solution to replace the…