The 9th International Conference on Energy, Resources, Environment and Sustainable Development (ERESD 2022)

ABSTRACT:
Durable, reactive, and cost-effective oxygen carriers (OCs) are imperative for the commercial application of Chemical looping combustion technology. However, the attrition of the oxygen carriers increases the process complicity and cost of the electricity. While popular materials such as iron, nickel, and copper-based materials have been studied extensively, the simultaneous enhancement of OC durability, reactivity and matchability of heat of reaction between OC and fuel has received little attention. A mechanical mixing method followed by calcination (1200-1300°C) was used to fabricate the copper-supplemented red mud oxygen carriers. Preliminary results show that the addition of small quantity of CuO improved the oxygen transport capacity of Red mud oxygen carrier under wet conditions by controlling the reduction degree of Fe₂O₃, which is applicable to the real application of coal combustion with primitive moisture. And the improved oxygen transport capacity can decrease the flowrate of oxygen carrier in continuous fluidized bed reactor, which could benefit to reduce the risk of attrition. According to XRD results, CuO was found to partly change into CuFe₂O₄ by calcination of 5% of CuO with red mud, which can stabilize Cu content more effectively than a single phase of CuO-based oxygen carriers due to the immiscible interaction between Cu and Fe. Progress on the attrition study of the fabricated OC’s in fixed bed reactor (TGA) and 0.5 kWth fluidized bed reactor with a reactive environment will be discussed.

Chemical looping combustion, Attrition, Mechanical strength, Red mud, Copper