Fuel is one of the basic elements to meet the energy needs of our home, so we get to provide heat, generate light, etc. But, with the rising prices of some of them, other lesser-known alternatives for heating our homes have begun to emerge.
Today we explain a new system that promises to be the future and has a great advantage: it helps us to provide heating in a much more economical way. Read on to learn more about it.
The fuel that uses iron to heat your home economically
The search for new fuel alternatives that allow us to cope with the current situation has become necessary, which is why this new iron fuel has emerged, a much more efficient and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
It was the company RIFT (Renewable Iron Fuel Technology), formed by a group of former university students. It has launched a new prototype of a boiler that runs on this novel fuel. Although for the time being, and as it is only a test, it will be tested in 500 homes to check if it works properly and can help us save all that it promises.
The advantages of this system discovered by the company in 2018 are more than clear: it is much more economical and non-polluting because it does not emit CO₂. In fact, iron powder allows us to store and use energy, it is reusable, very safe, easily transportable, and compact, so it is an alternative to heat the home that promises to be much more suitable and allow us to save more.
This is how iron fuel in heating works
In the company’s own words, what is mainly done is to oxidize and deoxidize the iron to produce the energy that our home needs. For oxidation, the powder is burned in a boiler, providing large amounts of heat and energy that are converted into steam or hot water.
Whereas deoxidation is caused by hydrogen, which turns the fuel back into an iron powder so it can be reused infinitely.
In this way, we would be dealing with a renewable energy source that, in addition, does not emit any harmful gas into the atmosphere during the process. And not only that, but its energy efficiency is also one of the highest that we can currently find, so the savings that can be made for most households is quite evident. However, we will still have to wait to be able to enjoy this system in our homes because it is not fully available.
However, the company has indicated that if its pilot test works as expected (which it has previously done), the idea is to be able to create in about 2 years a central of 1 megawatt to start supplying cities with this type of energy and make it a firm alternative for the year 2050.