Oxygen Combustion Advancement - Chemical Looping

Oxy-fuel combustion is a promising approach to produce heat and power with inherent CO2 separation. Conventional oxy-fuel combustion requires energy to produce the required oxygen. Advances in oxygen production with cryogenic or membrane technologies have significantly reduced the cost and energy needed to produce oxygen, but further reductions may be possible with advanced approaches like chemical looping combustion (CLC). In the CLC approach, fuel is used to reduce a solid metal oxide, which is subsequently re-oxidized in air. Repeated in this manner, the metal/metal oxide “loops” between fuel and air reactors so that oxygen is supplied to the fuel reactor, without nitrogen. As with conventional oxy-fuel, the combustion products in the fuel reactor are just CO2 and water vapor. Unlike conventional oxy-fuel, no specific oxygen separation is needed. Fundamental studies of CLC oxygen carriers, as well as reactor and process design are being conducted by many laboratories. Modern simulation tools allow prediction across all aspects of this new process – ranging from metal/metal oxide reactions to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) of fluid bed reactors. Simulations at all levels are expected to guide experimental development, and experimental data are needed to validate predictive capabilities. Presenters are encouraged to submit papers that will support both experimental and simulation development for the chemical looping process.