Presentation

Confirmed speakers

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• Carolina Guío-Pérez, Chalmers University of Technology - SE

  

  Carolina Guío-Pérez

  Chalmers University of Technology 

  Address:  Hörsalsvägen 7, 41296 Göteborg - Sweden

   Email: carolina.guioperez@chalmers.se

  Carolina graduated as chemical engineer from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. After completing her PhD at the Vienna Technical University, she continued her research at BOKU university and Universidad Nacional de Colombia. She is now co-leader of the Fluidization research group at Chalmers University of Technology. She focuses on experimental research and development of measurement techniques.

  Reduction of iron oxide in fluidized bed systems 

  Reduction of iron oxides offers a versatile platform for metal-based diversification of energy carriers including large-scale long-term storage of renewable energy storage. Compared with established reduction in shaft reactors, fluidized beds provide superior mixing, higher gas-solid contact, faster reaction rates and, most importantly, flexibility on the feedstock’s distributions of size and chemical composition. This allows direct use of fine ores without major pretreatment, lowering the overall energy use and CAPEX of iron reduction. However, distinctive challenges are present: majorly sticking and defluidization, but also attrition and consequent need for fines handling. Industrial experience demonstrates that multi-stage reactor concepts offer higher control over the reaction rates and conditions, solving those issues to a large extent.
  This keynote will trace the evolution from early commercial fluidized-bed direct reduction technologies to today’s hydrogen-based iron cycles and iron-fuel concepts, highlighting both lessons learned and the remaining bottlenecks. Particularly, the lecture will discuss key current research questions for fluidized-bed reduction of iron oxides in the framework of redox cycles for renewable energy storage, i.e.: understanding sticking and sintering, understanding the evolution of material properties over redox cycles, and indicating economically viable operation modes. 

• David Pallarès, Chalmers University of Technology - SE

  

  David Pallarès

  Chalmers University of Technology 

  Address:  Hörsalsvägen 7, 41296 Göteborg - Sweden

   Email: david.pallares@chalmers.se

  David Pallarès is professor in Industrial Energy Conversion with a background focused on fluidized bed technology. His experience covers a wide area of fluidized bed applications and combines modeling and experimental work. He co-leads the Fluidization research group at Chalmers and is Sweden’s representative in the Technology Collaboration Programme for Fluidized Bed Conversion of the International Energy Agency.

  Reduction of iron oxide in fluidized bed systems 

  Reduction of iron oxides offers a versatile platform for metal-based diversification of energy carriers including large-scale long-term storage of renewable energy storage. Compared with established reduction in shaft reactors, fluidized beds provide superior mixing, higher gas-solid contact, faster reaction rates and, most importantly, flexibility on the feedstock’s distributions of size and chemical composition. This allows direct use of fine ores without major pretreatment, lowering the overall energy use and CAPEX of iron reduction. However, distinctive challenges are present: majorly sticking and defluidization, but also attrition and consequent need for fines handling. Industrial experience demonstrates that multi-stage reactor concepts offer higher control over the reaction rates and conditions, solving those issues to a large extent.
  This keynote will trace the evolution from early commercial fluidized-bed direct reduction technologies to today’s hydrogen-based iron cycles and iron-fuel concepts, highlighting both lessons learned and the remaining bottlenecks. Particularly, the lecture will discuss key current research questions for fluidized-bed reduction of iron oxides in the framework of redox cycles for renewable energy storage, i.e.: understanding sticking and sintering, understanding the evolution of material properties over redox cycles, and indicating economically viable operation modes. 

• Christof Schulz, Institute for Energy and Materials Processes, University of Duisburg-Essen - DE

  

  Christof Schulz

  Institute for Energy and Materials Processes, University of Duisburg-Essen

  Address:  Carl-Benz-Str. 199, 47057 Duisburg - Germany

   Email: christof.schulz@uni-due.de

  Christof Schulz studied Chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe. He received his PhD at the University of Heidelberg in 1997 with a thesis on laser-spectroscopic measurements of nitric oxide in internal combustion engines. He headed a junior group in Heidelberg where he also received his Habilitation in 2002. During this time, he spent several research periods at Stanford University, first as Visiting Scholar and from 2002–04 as Consulting Associate Professor. In 2004 he assumed the Chair for Reactive Fluids at the Institute for Energy and Materials Processes the University of Duisburg-Essen. Since 2009 he is the founding director of the NanoEnergyTechnologyCenter (NETZ) and since 2024 the director of the Research Center Future Energy Materials and Systems.

  High-temperature gas-phase synthesis of functional nanomaterials   

  Nanoparticle formation in flames enables the generation of high-purity materials with well-controlled properties but also describes unwanted phenomena related to metal combustion. Increasing process understanding and control provides a chance for scale-up of highly specialized lab-scale technologies used for the manufacturing of unique materials to industrial scale. For the synthesis of materials with desired properties, the reaction conditions must be well controlled and the underlying processes understood. The decomposition kinetics of precursor compounds, as well as the reaction mechanisms of decomposition, cluster formation and particle nucleation, and the potential interaction with bath gases and flame chemistry is a prerequisite for a targeted synthesis. Kinetics experiments are carried out in shock-tube reactors with optical and mass spectrometric detection of intermediate and product species. Flow reactors equipped with laser-based detection of temperature and species concentration as well as molecular-beam sampling techniques allow for detailed investigation of the particle formation processes. Reaction conditions such as temperature, intermediate species concentration and particle size must be determined in situ in lab-scale nanoparticle reactors and the definition of standardized experiments that allow to build-up large data bases for model development is important. The scale-up to pilot-plant-scale based on simulation and experiments finally helps to prove the viability of new technologies and their application on mass markets such as materials for batteries or electrocatalysis.

• Keena Trowell, McMaster University - CA

  

  Keena Trowell

  McMaster University 

  Address:  John Hodgins Engineering Rm 310 1280 Main St. W, Hamilton, ON  L8S 4L7 - Canada

   Email: trowellk@mcmaster.ca

  Keena Trowell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada). She earned her PhD at McGill University (Montréal, Canada). Her expertise is in high–temperature, high–pressure metal–water reactions for heat and hydrogen production. She also investigates the use of supercritical water as an oxidizer in metal–water systems. Dr. Trowell’s research interests include metal fuels, energy storage, energy for remote regions, the water–energy nexus, and the techno–economic analysis of circular fuels. She has several publications on these topics and holds a patent based on her research.

  The aluminium energy cycle: an overview of production, conversion, power generation, and life cycle impacts of aluminium as an energy carrier    

  Although aluminium has historically been used largely as a structural material, its intrinsic characteristics make it a promising large–scale energy vector. Aluminium has high volumetric and gravimetric energy densities, is reactive under the right conditions, is safe to handle and transport, and there is a clear pathway to zero–carbon production. An overview of the aluminium energy cycle is presented: aluminium production, aluminium–water reactions, power generation from reaction products, and eco-technoeconomic and lifecycle analysis.
  The key aspects of aluminium smelting and implications for grid management, long–duration energy storage, inert anode technology, and transportation are reviewed. The fundamentals of aluminium-water reactions are presented, with a focus on the influence of morphology and reactor conditions on hydrogen production rates and yields. The power generation pathways enabled by these reactions are also reviewed. They include electrochemical conversion in fuel cells, thermal power generation, and proposed novel cycles. The system-level efficiencies, integration challenges and operational constraints are considered. Finally, published eco-technoeconomic analysis (eTEA) and lifecycle assessments (LCA) are synthesized to identify the economic and environmental performance of aluminium as an energy carrier. The talk highlights key technical challenges and outlines opportunities for aluminium to serve as a recyclable and scalable low-carbon energy carrier.

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