Towards clean energy

The combustion of finely divided metal powders represents a new clean energy alternative for the propulsion of the vehicles of the future. In this work we plan to reduce the metal oxides resulting from this reaction using the concentrated solar route to propose a combustion-regeneration cycle. A literature review and a thermodynamic study were carried out to select the most efficient metal/oxide couples for this application. Preliminary carbo-reduction experiments under reduced pressure using a reactor placed in the hearth of a concentrated solar furnace yielded powders with high magnesium contents.