Project description
A new way to burn iron for clean energy
Industries need high-temperature heat, but most rely on fossil fuels, which release CO2 and harm the climate. Sustainable alternatives, such as hydrogen and batteries, face storage and transport challenges. Iron powder is a promising solution because it burns cleanly, produces intense heat, and can be regenerated with green hydrogen. However, existing combustion methods struggle with iron flames, causing unstable burning, harmful nanoparticles, and high NOx emissions. With this in mind, the ERC-funded ICONIC project is developing a new way to burn iron safely. Researchers will design a special burner that avoids these problems. Starting with a small-scale system, the goal is to create a larger industrial version. ICONIC could help industries switch to cleaner energy.
Objective
Iron Power is a new technology to store and transport sustainable energy. An iron aerosol mixture is burned in a flame and the heat is used in high temperature processes. The formed iron-oxide powder is collected and transported to places with a surplus of green hydrogen, where it is regenerated back to iron powder. As such, Iron Power is a very promising CO2-free circular energy carrier of sustainable energy, which has a very high energy density, is easy to handle, safe, environmentally friendly and cheap. Within the fast growing Iron Power community, existing solid fuel combustion concepts are applied mostly, but these show severe problems caused by the specific character of iron aerosol flames: a) flame stabilisation is difficult to establish, b) nano-particles and c) high NOx emissions are also difficult to circumvent. A completely new combustion concept is needed to solve the problems. The ERC program MetalFuel creates the basic knowledge on metal aerosol combustion with the right ingredients to do solve these problems. The combustion concept developed is called ICONIC (Ignition COntrolled low-Nox Iron Combustion). Within this ERC PoC a well-controllable ICONIC burner will be developed, designed, tested and patented. A small-scale system will be developed and studied first, after which a conceptual design of Mega-Watt size will be developed which will enable future implementation in an industrial-scale system. Furthermore, the possible future market will be evaluated. A start-up is already interested and a launching customer seems to be in view, if the PoC is successful.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology nanotechnology nano-materials
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-POC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
5612 AE Eindhoven
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.