Industrial-Scale Preparation of Biore Oxygen Carriers for Chemical Looping Combustion via a Hydroforming Method

Abstract

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) has entered the stage of engineering demonstration, thus urgently requiring industrial-scale preparation of an oxygen carrier (OC). This work proposes a novel hydroforming method for the industrial-scale preparation of OC. The cheap copper ore and iron ore fines are active components, and cement is the binder. First, the biore OCs through a laboratory hydraulic press are tested in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and a batch fluidized bed (BFB) reactor. The optimal loading ratio of cement is 20 wt %, and a CH 4 conversion above 90% is achieved. Second, the hydroforming is scaled up to the industrial scale. The industrial-scale OC shows favorable performance in the 100-cycle H 2 /CH 4 /coal CLC tests, achieving an oxygen loss ratio of 6 wt %, a CH 4 conversion of around 90%, and a combustion efficiency of 95%, respectively. Finally, the characterization results suggest that the OCs always meet the crushing strength demand and their specific surface areas get larger after 100 cycles. They demonstrate stable crystal structures with Fe 2 O 3 and CuFe 2 O 4 , relatively rich pore structures, and evenly distributed elements throughout the cycles. The industrial-scale hydroforming method is a competitive candidate for OC preparation, considering the favorable performance of prepared OC and its high compatibility with raw materials.