Can you imagine that the future engine will not "drink" petrol but "eat" iron powder? Researchers at McGill University in Canada and a European Space Agency scientist proposed a new concept—using tiny metal particles that are roughly the same size as fine powder or powdered sugar to drive an external combustion engine. Compared to hydrogen, biofuels or batteries, metal powders are expected to become a long-term alternative solution to fossil fuels.
External combustion engines are modern versions of coal-fired steam engines in the industrial era and are widely used in nuclear power stations, coal-fired or biomass power stations. Burning metal powders is also common, for example, the eye-catching colors of fireworks come from the various metal powders added, as well as the Space Shuttle rocket propellants.
According to a news bulletin released on the 9th from McGill University’s official website, the team’s team led by Jeffrey Berger Solson’s team used this important feature of metal powder: it generates stable, non-toxic when burned. Solid oxide products are relatively easy to recycle, while fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide and escape into the atmosphere.
They used a custom burner to prove that the flame of a fine metal particle suspended in the air burns. According to their predictions, the energy and power density of metal-powder-driven engines will be very close to those of current fossil-fuel internal combustion engines, and it is expected to become an attractive technology for building a low-carbon society in the future. Iron will be the main candidate. Metallurgical, chemical, and electronics industries generate millions of tons of iron powder each year. The technology of recycling iron is already mature, and some novel technologies can also avoid the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the traditional way of producing iron from coal.
Berg Solson said that in the next step they will build a prototype burner and connect it to a heat engine, striving to turn laboratory results into practical technologies.
David Jarvis, head of the European Space Agency’s strategy and emerging technologies, who participated in the study, said that this technology has opened the door to the development of new propulsion systems that can be used in space and on Earth. If it can prove that the iron-powder fuel engine can achieve almost zero emissions, it will bring more innovation, and the cost will be further reduced. (Reporter Chen Dan)
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