Thermite is a fancy name (actually a trademark) for a quite simple reaction: Just take some rust (iron oxide) powder and some aluminium powder, smash them together, and watch the fireworks. Or to put it into a formula:
iron(III) oxide + aluminium → iron + aluminium oxide
Fe2O3 + 2Al → 2 Fe + Al2O3
This reaction releases 850 kJ/mol, (so, very exothermic) and it also releases this energy so quickly that 2400°C are usually reached – enough to melt everything in the mix. Which is very helpful for things like welding, where the molten iron will readily fill the hole you want it to fill, while the aluminium oxide merely sits on top. But it also is useful in general to separate the two molten pieces of metal, as aluminium oxide is much, much less dense than molten iron.
But this is just chemistry..? How does that help?
Patience. I’ll get to that. While we’re on the subject of numbers and formulas, to get back to pure metals, we need:
Al2O3 → 2 Al + O3
which requires us to put 1819 kJ/mol into it as it’s very endothermic. And if we for some reason need to artificially create rust, we can do so with:
2Fe + 3H2O → Fe2O3 + 3 H2
This releases another 31 kJ/mol and happens far less violently usually (hence why your car doesn’t explode once it starts rusting).
OK great, but how does that help?
I just said, I’ll get to that.
The inputs and outputs we have for this reaction are all both fairly common, and fairly useful:
- To get the Aluminium, we can shred up some cans.
- To get the Iron(III) oxide, the rust, we simply can shred up some cars.
- The Aluminium oxide we can use to make rubies and sapphires, or perhaps for ceramics. It’s main use would be to split it back up, so we get the Aluminium back.
- The ozone or oxygen, as well as hydrogen gasses we can use for other chemical reactions, or to create the most dangerous blimp humanity has ever seen.
BUT HOW DOES THAT HELP THE GRID??
The energy grid faces the challenge that during high winds and sun, we barely know what to do with all of that electricity, where you literally get paid to use up some electricity. Likewise, during a dark and windstill day, called a “Dunkelflaute” in German, more electricity needs to be produced to meet demand.
So, during times we have too much energy, we can use the very endothermic process of reducing the aluminium oxide back into aluminium. And during times where we have too little energy, we can ignite the thermite to heat up some water and use that to make a turbine spin; just like we’d do in a nuclear reactor or coal/oil/gas power plant.
Additionally, as we’d get a stream of practically pure iron for further industrial use together with a stream of practically pure aluminium oxide which we can make all sorts of cool gemstones out of.
And thermite is the best compound out there to make this happen?
If you’re dreaming to sit on a throne of sapphires, yes.
Is that the real reason you want to propose this solution?
… yes.
I’m leaving.
But you haven’t heard my idea on adding beryllium to the mix to make emeralds yet!! Hey! Wait!
Leo Wattenberg 