Chemical Looping Combustion of Solid Fuels in a 10 kWth Unit

Journal article, 2011

Chemical Looping Combustion of Solid Fuels in a 10 kW(th) Unit - The present study is based on previous results from batch experiments which were conducted in a 10 kW(th), chemical looping combustor for solid fuels using ilmenite, an iron titanium oxide, as the oxygen carrier with two solid fuels: a Mexican petroleum coke and a South African bituminous coal. These experiments involved testing at different fuel reactor temperatures, up to 1030°C, and different particle circulation rates between the air and fuel reactors. Previous results enabled modeling of the reactor system. In particular, it was possible to derive a correlation between measured operational data and actual circulation mass flow, as well as a model that describes the carbon capture efficiency as a function of the residence time and the char reactivity. Moreover, the kinetics of char conversion could be modeled and results showed good agreement with experimental values. The purpose of the present study was to complete these results by developing a model to predict the conversion of syngas with ilmenite in the fuel reactor. Here, kinetic data from investigations of ilmenite in TGA and batch fluidized bed reactors were used. Results were compared with the actual conversions during operation in this 10 kW(th) unit.