Metal combustion: Study on the production capacity of metal particles and the implementation of such technology in Brazil

• Grant number: 22/10826-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Thermal Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Luiz Sacomano Filho
• Grantee: Larissa Azevedo Blanco Faro
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The combustion of metal particles is a technology characterized by the burning of a metal by an oxidizing agent whose product is a metal oxide in solid form, thereby making it easier to capture the latter for later recycling without any production of GHGs during the proccess. Moreover, there is technology available capable of recycling such oxidized products powered by clean energy provided by renewable primary sources. Thus, the reduction-oxidation cycle characteristic of recyclable metal fuels is a zero-carbon power generating cycle. Such evidences pinpoint metal fuels as recyclable energy carriers of clean energy which are promising alternatives to fossil fuels in a future low-carbon economy. Therefore, the implementation of metal particles combustion in Brazil meets its commitment to the Environmental Issue formalised by the Paris Agreement and boosted by the national compromise of reaching climate neutrality until 2050, in the occasion of the 2021 Leaders Summit on Climate. In addition, the great iron ore reserves located in Brazilian territory makes this technology an even more promising alternative to hidrocarbonated fuels as a commodity, enabling Brazil to become a big player in a prosperous clean energy market as a result. This project therefore has the purpose of congregating the most recent advances on the combustion of metal particles while focusing on the potential and capacity of its implementation in Brazil.