| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2022 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Advanced Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage 2022
|
| Presentation Title |
Continuous Process for Harvesting Energy from Aluminum Scrap via Liquid-metal Activation |
| Author(s) |
Peter Godart, Douglas Hart |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Peter Godart |
| Abstract Scope |
Scrap aluminum, in addition to being abundant in landfills throughout the world, is also highly energy dense. It has been shown that this energy can be extracted in a controlled manner via oxidation of the aluminum by water. To enable the reaction, the otherwise passivating aluminum-oxide layer can be disrupted by introducing a liquid metal alloy containing gallium and indium into the aluminum grain boundary network. Previously, recovery of the activating metals as a liquid was not possible due to oxidation of the gallium. In this work, however, a method for recovering the activating metals as a liquid using saltwater is presented, enabling a continuous energy harvesting system whose only inputs are scrap aluminum and water, and whose outputs are hydrogen gas and heat. This process was demonstrated using practical scrap aluminum (used beverage cans) to achieve a >97% hydrogen yield fraction and a >99% liquid metal recovery ratio. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Aluminum, Energy Conversion and Storage, Extraction and Processing |