Research Projects

India's current electricity generation is primarily based on pulverized coal power plants, with a per capita annual electricity consumption of close to 1200 units. This consumes over 250 kg of coal, causing significant emissions and economic impact. The most commonly advocated solution is the replacement of fossil fuels with solar and wind energy, which have large diurnal and seasonal variability and low energy density. However, storing these renewable energy sources is difficult at scale. India has made five commitments at COP26 towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and a significant reduction in net carbon emissions by 2030. Implementing solutions involving carbon-free fuels for energy generation and large-scale storage of energy generated by solar and wind is crucial for the current energy scenario. An energy cycle based on metal particle combustion could be helpful, as metal fuels offer advantages such as low safety risk, high energy densities, and lack of CO2 emissions. Indigenous studies aimed at realizing the practical implementation of direct combustion of metal fuels are sparse. A clear opportunity exists for initiating fundamentally informative studies and developing a burner system that provides high energy density without adding to carbon emissions. The proposed study aims to research the fundamental combustion characteristics of candidate metal fuels and develop the practical knowledge base required for the design and implementation of a full-scale metal fuel energy cycle.

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