The combustion and reoxidation properties of direct coal chemical-looping combustion (CLC) over CuO, Fe2O3, Co3O4, NiO, and Mn2O3 were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and bench-scale fixed-bed flow reactor studies. When coal is heated in either nitrogen or carbon dioxide (CO2), 50% of weight loss was observed because of partial pyrolysis, consistent with the proximate analysis. Among various metal oxides evaluated, CuO showed the best reaction properties: CuO can initiate the reduction reaction as low as 500 °C and complete the full combustion at 700 °C. In addition, the reduced copper can be fully reoxidized by air at 700 °C. The combustion products formed during the CLC reaction of the coal/metal oxide mixture are CO2 and water, while no carbon monoxide was observed. Multicycle TGA tests and bench-scale fixed-bed flow reactor tests strongly supported the feasibility of CLC of coal by using CuO as an oxygen carrier. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of solid reaction products indicated some changes in the surface morphology of a CuO−coal sample after reduction/oxidation reactions at 800 °C. However, significant surface sintering was not observed. The interactions of fly ash with metal oxides were investigated by X-ray diffraction and thermodynamic analysis. Overall, the results indicated that it is feasible to develop CLC with coal by metal oxides as oxygen carriers.

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Chemical-looping combustion (CLC) is a combustion technology for clean and efficient utilization of fossil fuels for energy production. This process which produces sequestration ready CO2 systems is a promising technology to be utilized with coal gasification systems. In the present work, chemical-looping combustion has been studied with an oxygen carrier, NiO/bentonite (60 wt % NiO) for the gasification systems utilizing simulated synthesis gas. Global reaction rates of reduction and oxidation as a function of conversion were calculated for oxidation−reduction cycles utilizing the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) data on multicycle tests conducted with NiO/bentonite at atmospheric pressure between 700 and 900 °C. The rate of reduction increased slightly with an increase in temperature, while the rate of oxidation decreased at 900 °C. The effect of particle size of the oxygen carrier on CLC was studied for the particle size between 20 and 200 mesh. The rates of reactions depended on the particle size of the oxygen carrier. The smaller the particle size, the higher the reaction rates. The multicycle CLC tests conducted in a high-pressure flow reactor showed stable reactivity for the production of CO2 from fuel gas at 800 and 900 °C and full consumption of hydrogen during the reaction. The data from a one cycle test on the effect of the pressure on the performance with NiO/bentonite utilizing the tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) showed a positive effect of the pressure on the global rates of reduction−oxidation reactions at higher fractional conversions. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the presence of the NiO phase in NiO/bentonite with the oxidized sample in the high-pressure reactor and Ni phase with the reduced sample. The presence of a small amount of NiO in the reduced sample detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) may be due to its exposure to air during sample transfer from the reactor to XPS. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed no significant changes in morphology of NiO/bentonite reacted in the temperature range 700−800 °C in an atmospheric TGA for 10 oxidation−reduction cycles, but some loss of surface area and porosity was observed at 900 °C. This effect was found to be greater with increase in the particle size of the oxygen carrier.

The effect of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) on the chemical looping combustion of coal-derived synthesis gas with bentonite-supported metal oxidesssuch as iron oxide, nickel oxide, manganese oxide, and copper oxideswas investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, mass spectrometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). During the reaction with synthesis gas containing H 2 S, metal-oxide oxygen carriers were first reduced by carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and then interacted with H 2 S to form metal sulfide, which resulted in a weight gain during the reduction/sulfidation step. The reduced/sulfurized compounds could be regenerated to form sulfur dioxide and oxides during the oxidation reaction with air. The reduction/oxidation capacities of iron oxide and nickel oxide were not affected by the presence of H 2 S, but both manganese oxide and copper oxide showed decreased reduction/oxidation capacities. However, the rates of reduction and oxidation decreased in the presence of H 2 S for all four metal oxides.