Towards carbon-free energy carriers: Kinetics of the thermochemical reduction/oxidation of iron oxide/iron

Abstract

Iron and its oxides are at the center of an innovative carbon-free chemical energy cycle within the Clean Circles research association. Energy can be stored within iron particles through the thermochemical reduction of iron oxide using green hydrogen; the stored energy is then released through the dust-firing of iron. Accurate kinetics models of both thermochemical processes are of prime importance for the design and operation of industrial systems. While the high-temperature oxidation of iron is a novel topic of research, many kinetic studies were already conducted on reducing iron oxide or iron ore. However, the discrepancies between studies are manifest, that it is in terms of reaction models, kinetic parameters, or even in terms of species involved. One of the issues is the simplicity of the mathematical models employed, based on linearization techniques of a limited number of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) curves. The present work will tackle the kinetics of the thermochemical reduction/oxidation of iron oxide/iron utilizing the leastsquare method, allowing for a direct comparison between experiments and modeling. The experiments supporting the modeling will originate both from the literature and from our own measurements and will be of various types: isothermal TGA, TGA with linear heating rates, temperature-programmed reduction and X-ray diffractions. The influence of parameters, such as the particle size distribution or porosity, on the kinetics will be discussed.