New approach for particle size and shape analysis of iron-based oxygen carriers at different oxidation degrees

Journal article, 2024

One of the crucial issues in the chemical looping technology lies in its bed material: the oxygen carrier. Particle size analysis of an oxygen carrier is important since in a fluidized bed the material can only work well within a specific size range. While the favorable size ranges for oxygen carrier materials have already been reported, none of the published studies has analyzed the particle size and shape of oxygen carriers in detail. Furthermore, the effect of oxygen carriers’ oxidation degree on such properties has not been considered either. This study aimed to report the particle size and shape analysis of five iron-based oxygen carriers, one natural ore, one synthetic material, and three residue products, at different oxidation degrees using dynamic image analysis (DIA). The oxygen carriers were prepared at different mass conversion degrees in a fluidized bed batch reactor. The size distribution, sphericity, and aspect ratio of the oxygen carrier particles were examined experimentally using a Camsizer instrument. Our results show that the DIA method was successfully able to analyze the particle size and shape of our oxygen carriers with satisfying accuracy for comparison. The oxidation state of the investigated materials seems to only affect the particle size and shape of oxygen carriers to a minor extent. However, exposures to redox cycles in a fluidized bed reactor may alter the particle size and shape of most oxygen carriers.