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‘It is good to see so many people present here today, and from so many different disciplines,’ stated EIRES’ scientific director Richard van de Sanden during his opening speech. ‘Metal power is a unique research field that started some ten years ago here at university. It is one of our crown jewels that not only includes excellent research, but also is tightly connected to student teams and has already led to an important spin-off. As EIRES, we strongly want to support the development of this field.’

Rapidly evolving field

‘At ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍø, the research into metal power has rapidly evolved from studying combustion to also investigating reduction, systems engineering and scaling up,’ chair of the day Giulia Finotello stated. ‘Where the research originated at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the field now requires a broader expertise. The goal of this meeting is thus to connect, spark new ideas and collaborations, and identify missing expertise.’

To that end, the audience was presented with an overview of the current metal power research going on at ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍø through presentations by principal investigators and pitches by postdocs and PhDs involved.

Assessing potential value

Arjan Kirkels from the Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences first took the stage to introduce the work of the Technology, Innovation & Society group he is part of. He pointed out that for any new technology to be successfully implemented in practice, it is imperative to assess its potential value and impact even before the product and manufacturing process are known. It is these types of studies on the application of technological innovations in society that he and his colleagues are experts in.

Bridging gaps

XiaoCheng Mi from the Department of Mechanical Engineering explained how he and his team are working on multi-scale modelling of metal-particle combustion. He argued that where up until now, everyone has been looking at the system from their own perspective, now the time has come to bring together all knowledge to bridge the gap between first principles and macroscopic measurables.

One of the people XiaoCheng is actively collaborating with to this end, is Shuxia Tao from the Department of Applied Physics and Science Education. In her renewed group called Intelligent Materials Theory, she is focusing on molecular dynamics for the design of materials for energy and information technology. She is for example using physics-based models and machine learning to predict and improve how cost-effective iron powders, such as ores and industrial residues, burn.

At the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Conrad Hessels is conducting experiments to also better understand iron combustion. He is looking into how hot an iron flame actually is, and provides data to validate numerical models for flame stabilization, micro-explosions and porosity-formation.

Reducing iron oxide

His colleague Yali Tang focusses on the reduction side of the iron cycle. She is developing numerical models to understand the complex behavior that occurs when the iron oxide is reduced back to iron by either using green hydrogen or low temperature electrolysis.

Ivo Roghair form the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry is interested in fluidization: he uses numerical modelling and a high temperature fluidization set up to study the reduction kinetics and establish design rules for a fluidized bed that is applicable at industrially relevant conditions.

Giulia Finotello herself closed the line of principal investigators presenting their research. She is also looking into the reduction in fluidized bed reactions, but focuses on the influence of using different types of feedstock. She also looks into flash reduction: using high temperatures above the melting point of the iron oxide to achieve a liquid phase reduction within a few seconds.

Sparks

Then 12 postdocs and PhD researchers took the stage to pitch their work, in order to get to know each other’s work and identify interesting interfaces between the different topics and approaches.

After an inspiring talk by guest speaker Laurine Choisez from the Catholic University of Louvain and a presentation by co-host Roy Hermanns about funding and valorization opportunities for metal power research, the group engaged in lively discussions during drinks. All in all, the meeting provided the community with a multitude of sparks for new, joint projects.