Chemical Engineering September 2023 - 8

a capacity of 15 MW. The
Organic SolidFlow battery
that is connected to the
solar park comes as a " battery
lab " in a 40-ft, thermally
managed and location-independent
container.
" Our focus for the coming
weeks will be to evaluate
our technology's performance
and then deliver further
storage systems with a
total capacity of 300 MWh
to Burgenland, " says Peter
Geigle, founder and CEO of
CMBlu Energy.
VANILLA-BASED RFB
This month, a three-year
international project began
to further develop redoxflow
batteries (RFBs) based
on vanillin. The VanillaFlow
project, funded within the
EIC Pathfinder Challenge
of the European Research
Council, is being led by
Graz University of Technology
(TU Graz; Austria; www.
tugraz.at), with partners
from TU Darmstadt, Ecolyte
GmbH, Montanuniversität
Leoben and Biobide.
In 2020, TU Graz scientists
first demonstrated the
feasibility of a vanillin-based
flow battery as a more sustainable
alternative to those
based on critical or environmentally
harmful raw material.
With VanillaFlow, a prototype
will be developed in
which all components of the
battery are optimized using
artificial intelligence (AI) and
machine learning (ML) -
the vanillin compounds as
the storage medium, the
membrane, the electrode
and the control system.
In the case of the membrane
and the electrode,
the primary aim is to replace
the less environmentally
friendly materials previously
used for this purpose in battery
storage systems with
sustainable materials as
well. For membranes, for
example, patent-pending,
paper-based membranes
are being developed to
replace the Nafion membranes
used so far.
As soon as a first prototype
of this AI-codesigned
storage system is ready,
it is planned to integrate
(Continues on p. 9)
8
This indirectly heated rotary kiln is
powered by electricity
M
etso Corp. (Helsinki, Finland;
www.metso.com) has
mized its existing rotary
optikiln
technology
and launched RotarEkiln,
an electrically powered, indirectly
heated rotary kiln. The electric heating system
of the RotarEkiln provides a sustainable
alternative to conventional fuel-powered
indirect rotary kilns.
The RotarEkiln (diagram) is comprised
of modular heating sections that have resistive-heating
elements along their inner
circumference to heat the kiln shell. This
modular design is said to offer superior
temperature control over the length of the
kiln compared to fuel-fired designs, and can
be customized to match specific applications.
The modules can easily be removed
and exchanged for maintenance and repair.
Using microwaves to make ammonia
Metso
A
mmonia is becoming more crucial
for the energy transition as
renewable-power producers look
to its potential as a means for energy
storage. Typically made using the energy-intensive
Haber Bosch (HB) process,
solutions for decarbonizing NH3 typically
involve the adoption of carbon-capture systems,
or the use of " green " H2. Now, a new
method for NH3 synthesis relies on microwaves
as its energy source. Developed at
the National Energy Technology Laboratory
(NETL; www.netl.doe.gov), in partnership
with West Virginia University (both Morgantown,
W.Va.; www.wvu.edu) and Malachite
Technologies (San Francisco, Calif.; www.
malachitetech.com), the Microwave Assisted
Synthesis (MAS) process uses microwave
energy and a patented catalyst to
produce NH3 at much lower temperature
and pressure than the HB process. " MAS
is a fully electric system that can respond
quickly to energy changes. That means it
can be paired with renewable power and
adjust to the energy input. The HB process
Traditional indirect kilns combust fuel, creating
exhaust gases that carry away heat
as waste, explains Maximilian Köpf, director
Technology and R&D, BL Ferrous & Heat
Transfer at Metso. Because the RotarEkiln
does not fire fuel, there is no heat wasted in
the exhaust gases. This, combined with the
improved flexibility and control of the shell
temperature leads to a decrease in energy
consumption of nearly 50%, he says.
The RotarEkiln is available with kiln-shell
diameters of up to 5 m - the largest commercially
available electric kiln, says the
company. It can be used for low- to medium-temperature
processes (up to 850°C).
Potential applications include lithium acid
roasting, rare-earth-acid roasting, pyrolysis
(carbonization), low- to medium-temperature
calcination and drying. Throughputs
depend on the process itself, but for a lithium-extraction,
acid-roast process, Metso
has considered the RotarEkiln for cases of
up to 35 metric tons per hour.
Capital and operating costs are highly
variable and dependent on the application,
location and project requirements, says
Köpf. " In some scenarios, the RotarEkiln
can increase capital costs as much as 10-
15%, " he says. " Metso is working to optimize
the technology and reduce this impact
to assist customers in achieving their
decarbonization goals. "
cannot vary production output in this way
without losing efficiency, " explains NETL researcher
Christina Wildfire.
The microwave energy is applied directly
to the catalyst, heating it rapidly and evenly,
which enables significantly faster startup
times than with large industrial processes.
The direct application of energy is also what
allows MAS to run at lower temperature and
pressure. " The microwaves enhance the
chemical reaction and selectively heat the
metal sites on the catalyst, providing accelerated
electron transfer. The technology will
support a very different business model for
NH3 synthesis, going from very large, centralized
production to smaller, distributed
production closer to the use site, reducing
the need for transport, " says Wildfire.
The team has demonstrated MAS at
1-kg/d scale and plans to build a 100-kg/d
reactor system and test catalyst durability.
Ultimately, Wildfire expects MAS to scale
up to around 3-ton/d modules, which
would match the typical electrical output
of a wind turbine.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
SEPTEMBER 2023
http://www.metso.com http://www.tugraz.at http://www.tugraz.at https://www.netl.doe.gov/ http://www.wvu.edu http://www.malachitetech.com http://www.malachitetech.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering September 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering September 2023
