IronCircle®
The decommissioning of coal-fired power plants is economically challenging, but nevertheless necessary for climate protection reasons. Iron as an energy carrier could give a second life to existing plants, while decarbonizing the power generation. In a two-step process, energy from renewable sources can be stored into iron particles and later released through dust firing. IronCircle® is DLR's answer to bring this concept into practical applications.
The energy storage step consists in the thermochemical reduction of iron oxide particles with hydrogen. The subjacent process is closely linked to another research topic of the Institute of Low-Carbon Industrial Processes, the decarbonization of steel production using green hydrogen as a reducing agent. The institute brings its know-how in the development of kinetic models to conceptualize reactors for the reduction process. The second focus of the IronCircle® project lies on the combustion of iron powders. The level of consideration ranges from kinetic matters to laminar model flames, up to self-sustained iron dust firing. This stepwise approach aims at determining the feasibility of the power plants retroffiting option with iron fuel.
The Institute of Low-Carbon Industrial Processes is part of the larger collaborative project Clean Circles, which investigates iron as an energy carrier for a climate-neutral circular economy. The project Clean Circles comprises four interconnected research areas. The reduction and oxidation processes constitute the two first research areas. Here, not only the thermochemical route is considered, but also the electrochemical route. Research areas 3 and 4 complete the technical considerations with thermodynamic-mathematical process, systems analysis and political-economic analysis.
Website:
Project status:
- Active – 04.2021 to 03.2025
Project partners:
- Technische Universität Darmstadt
- Hochschule Darmstadt
- Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
- DLR Institute of Low-Carbon Industrial Processes
- Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (JGU)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH