Design of an industrial chemical looping gasification system

Journal article, 2022

A design methodology for an industrial Chemical Looping Gasification (CLG) unit is proposed, including the reactor system, oxygen carrier, solid fuel, key parameters, mass and energy balance, reactor dimension, and emissions. To determine a reactor system for CLG, the first design step is to choose between four types of systems and their applicability. The selection of a circulating material and a particle size of the oxygen carrier and the solid fuel is discussed. Determination of the key operating parameters comprises oxygen-to-fuel ratio, steam-to-fuel ratio, charging/discharging of the oxygen carrier and the conversion difference between an air reactor and a fuel reactor, their temperatures, velocities in each reactor, and cyclone efficiency. As design basis, the mass and energy balance of the system is computed based on the distribution of syngas composition and oxygen transportation over the system. It is not critical to obtain an adequate circulation for a CLG unit. But to satisfy the heat balance, oxygen transport and reasonable efficiency of syngas production at the same time makes CLG technology challenging. More work is needed for the introduced design items in the case of commercial-scale units.