The iron cycle represents a promising possibility to store and transport large amounts of sustainably generated energy. Within RSM, the oxidative withdrawal of the energy stored in iron particles is primarily investigated. This process is influenced, among other things, by the particle loading and the flow structure of the surrounding gas mixture. An investigation of the relevant phenomena requires a systematic complexity variation: from the single particle to the particle group and from the laminar to the turbulent case. In the future, the storage of energy by means of reduction of iron oxide particles will also be investigated.
One subproject of the collaborative project Clean Circles is concerned with the detailed investigation of the oxidation of individual iron particles. For this purpose, a test stand is developed in which individual particles can be oxidized in a defined atmosphere. The particle oxidation is recorded using a variety of minimally invasive optical measurement techniques such as pyrometry and high-speed imaging. The results of the investigations will be used to gain a comprehensive understanding of the underlying physicochemical processes and as a basis for numerical models that can be derived and validated using the data.
