A breakthrough thermochemical reactor developed by scientists at Stanford Engineering may soon be cap-able of reaching the high temperatures required for many industrial processes but powered by electricity instead of fossil fuels. This advance could slash carbon emissions from a sector that now releases nearly one-third of the U.S.’s carbon dioxide—more than from cars and airplanes.
The reactor design, published a couple of days ago in the journal Joule, presents a new way of doing things—much more efficient, much smaller, and cheap compared to the fossil fuel-based technologies used previously. The reactor uses magnetic induction to raise heat, a process akin to that used in induction stovetops. However, to generate and then distribute heat evenly in three-dimensional spaces at high efficiencies, the reactor takes this technology and brings it into the industrial world for which it was adapted.
The thermochemical reactors of the mainstream category commonly depend on fossil fuel combustion, elevating the temperature of liquids that will be passed along the pipelines. This conventional technique requires extensive infrastructure and suffers from massive heat losses. By contrast, the reactor developed by Stanford itself prompts heat generation within the reactor due to the passage of high-frequency electric currents. Those currents, in turn, create an oscillating magnetic field that establishes a current in a ceramic lattice at the reactor’s core, which also operates under the principle of heat generation. This process not only reduces the complexity of the heating mechanism but also does better management of energy and a reduced cost of the process.
According to the researchers, the reactor proved itself in action by powering up a chemical reaction, the reversed water gas shift reaction, which turns captured carbon dioxide into a gas useful in a sustainable way to create fuels. Converting electric energy into usable heat exceeded 85% efficiency, and the chemical reaction took place at its theoretically predicted rate, which meant this apparatus was close to practical.
The authors are now turning to scaling up. Led by electrical engineering associate professor Jonathan Fan, co-first authors Juan Rivas-Davila and Matthew Kanan. One of the main areas the team is currently zeroing in on is using the reactor technology in carbon capture and cement manufacturing, working with industrial partners to understand how the technology might be adapted to serve industry needs. The teams are conducting economic analysis to make out how their sustainable solutions could be upscaled.
This is an incredible breakthrough in reactor technology that will be a giant step in electrifying corporates and at the same time decarbonizing the use of industrial processes through smart electrification. This can help to move an area known to be very difficult to decarbonize into more sustainable ways.