Electrically conductive bricks can replace fossil fuels in industrial processes
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Re: Electrically conductive bricks can replace fossil fuels in industrial processes
#2Re: Electrically conductive bricks can replace fossil fuels in industrial processes
#3Neat idea. I'm usually skeptical (cynical?) when news outlets write advertorials for world-changing startups, but I'm gonna keep an eye on these guys.
Very clever!
Re: Electrically conductive bricks can replace fossil fuels in industrial processes
#4But how efficient is it? I don't see that info in the article.
Re: Electrically conductive bricks can replace fossil fuels in industrial processes
#5But how efficient is it? I don't see that info in the article.
Well it is just a brick that can acts as a heating element. In terms of converting electricity to heat it is almost 100% efficient like every other electric heating element.
I didn't spot any mention of voltage requirements for that so maybe it requires so high voltage that cause it to be a bit harder to actually use.
Re: Electrically conductive bricks can replace fossil fuels in industrial processes
#6If these systems have enough thermal mass then maybe you could even power them with solar or daily offset cheaper power in another storage mechanism.
Between this and the newer co2 reduction technologies in kilns we might be close to finding ways to build combined steel and cement factories that have massively reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
Re: Electrically conductive bricks can replace fossil fuels in industrial processes
#7If these systems have enough thermal mass then maybe you could even power them with solar or daily offset cheaper power in another storage mechanism. Between this and the newer co2 reduction technologies in kilns we might be close to finding ways to build combined steel and cement factories that have massively reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
That's just inefficient solar thermal though.
If you want to do that you'd be better off using parabolic mirrors to heat regular fire bricks directly.
These are unique it seems because they're durable electric heating elements that can hit industrial process temperatures and might be cheaper then alternatives?
Re: Electrically conductive bricks can replace fossil fuels in industrial processes
#8https://archive.is/QGs6x
Wondering why archive.is is ok to replicate articles beyond paywalls while chatGPT got sued for a few unintentional regurgitations. Should there be a "protect it or lose it" rule for copyright as in trademarks?
Re: Electrically conductive bricks can replace fossil fuels in industrial processes
#9Neat. We need more "box of hot rocks" thermal storage solutions.
It's fun to compare and contrast strategies, as startups explore and define the problem space.
For example:
Fourth Power is a heat to electricity solution. It uses graphite bricks (up to 2400°C), liquid metal for plumbing, and thermophotovoltaic cells.
https://gofourth.com/our-technology/
Electrified Thermal Solutions is an electricity to heat solution. It combines the heating element, storage, and exchanger into a single brick (up to 1800°C).
Re: Electrically conductive bricks can replace fossil fuels in industrial processes
#10How does this fit into the wider picture of steelmaking with electric arc furnaces? Those have been around for a good long while; what can this do that an electric arc furnace can't?