| Title: |
On the use of industrial steel mill scale as a high-density energy carrier: Part I. Reaction processes and particle size evolution over cycling |
| Authors: |
Choisez, Laurine; Stevens, Nicole; Prasidha, Willie; Kuypers, Bénédicte; Mauxion, Théo; de Goey, Philip; Finotello, Giulia; Jacques, Pascal J. |
| Contributors: |
UCL - SST/IMMC/IMAP - Materials and process engineering |
| Source: |
Fuel, Vol. 405, no./, p. 136614 (2026) |
| Publisher Information: |
Elsevier BV |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
DIAL@USL-B (Université Saint-Louis, Bruxelles) |
| Description: |
Metal powder has recently emerged as a sustainable energy carrier due to its high energy density and potential for renewable combustion-reduction cycles. Among metallic fuels, iron stands out as a particularly attractive candidate, given its low cost, abundance, safety, and compatibility with existing infrastructures. However, the economic competitiveness of iron fuel is hampered by the costs associated with producing high-purity Fe powder. In this work, recycled mill scale produced from classical iron and steel industry is investigated as a potential low-cost iron source. The reduction and combustion behaviours of mill scale (with ~1.5 wt% additions when fully reduced) are systematically compared to those of atomized pure Fe powder. Two reduction-combustion cycles were conducted to investigate how a monomodal versus bimodal initial particle size distribution (PSD) affects key performance parameters, including fluidization behaviour, flame temperatures, particle agglomeration and embrittlement. Stable reduction-combustion cycles of the mill scale powders are obtained with lower PSD variation for the mill scale as compared to pure Fe, showing its potential as a low-cost Fe fuel. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/F.R.S.-FNRS/Chargée de recherche/ID40011141; boreal:305499; https://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/305499 |
| DOI: |
10.1016/j.fuel.2025.136614 |
| Availability: |
https://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/305499; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2025.136614 |
| Rights: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.1CA9E2B8 |
| Database: |
BASE |