Advancements in biomass gasification research utilizing iron-based oxygen carriers in chemical looping:A review

Biomass,recognized as renewable green coal,is pivotal for energy conservation,emission reduction,and dualcarbon objectives.Chemical looping gasification,an innovative technology,aims to enhance biomass utilization efficiency.Using metal oxides as oxygen carriers regulates the oxygen-to-fuel ratio to optimize synthesis product yields.This review examines various oxygen carriers and their roles in chemical looping biomass gasification,including natural iron ore types,industrial by-products,cerium oxide-based carriers,and core-shell structures.The catalytic,kinetic,and phase transfer properties of iron-based oxygen carriers are analyzed,and their catalytic cracking capabilities are explored.Molecular interactions are elucidated and system performance is optimized by providing insights into chemical looping reaction mechanisms and strategies to improve carrier efficiency,along with discussing advanced techniques such as density functional theory(DFT)and reactive force field(ReaxFF)molecular dynamics(MD).This paper serves as a roadmap for advancing chemical looping gasification towards sustainable energy goals.

Syngas production from chemical looping reforming of ethanol over iron-based oxygen carriers: Theoretical analysis and experimental investigation

Chemical looping reforming(CLR)is a recent trend for syngas production,which has several merits compared to the conventional manner.One of the most important issues for CLR is to find low-cost material as oxygen carriers,so iron is a promising candidate.This paper contributes to testing the thermodynamic ability of iron-based oxygen carrier for chemical looping reforming of ethanol(CLRE).Iron thermodynamically investigated in temperature 100–1300℃and excess oxygen number(φ)0–4.It was found that the temperature andφhave an apparent effect on the gaseous composition produced from the process.Increases in temperature within the range of 100–1300℃enhanced syngas generated and reduced coke formation and CH4.Whereas,increasedφ,particularly at higher temperatures,had also enhanced syngas production as well as reduced coke formation.However,increasingφfor values beyond one had decreased syngas and not significantly reduced coke deposition.Moreover,an experimental investigation was carried out in a fixed bed reactor for more in-depth verification of iron ability as an oxygen carrier through using magnetite ore(mainly Fe3O4).It found that the effect of temperature on syngas production was consistent with that calculated thermodynamically,as syngas increased with raising the temperature through the CLRE.

New approach for particle size and shape analysis of iron-based oxygen carriers at multiple oxidation states

One of the crucial issues in the chemical looping technology lies in its bed material:the oxygen carrier.Particle size analysis of an oxygen carrier is important since in a fluidized bed the material can only work well within a specific size range.While the favorable size ranges for oxygen carrier materials have already been reported,none of the published studies has analyzed the particle size and shape of oxygen carriers in detail.Furthermore,the effect of oxygen carriers'oxidation degree on such properties has not been considered either.This study aimed to report the particle size and shape analysis of five iron-based oxygen carriers,one natural ore,one synthetic material,and three residue products,at different oxidation degrees using dynamic image analysis(DIA).The oxygen carriers were prepared at different mass conversion degrees in a fluidized bed batch reactor.The size distribution,sphericity,and aspect ratio of the oxygen carrier particles were examined experimentally using a Camsizer instrument.Our results show that the DIA method was successfully able to analyze the particle size and shape of our oxygen carriers with satisfying accuracy for comparison.The oxidation state of the investigated materials seems to only affect the particle size and shape of oxygen carriers to a minor extent.However,exposures to redox cycles in a fluidized bed reactor may alter the particle size and shape of most oxygen carriers.

Thermogravimetric characteristics of corn straw and bituminous coal copyrolysis based the ilmenite oxygen carriers

Herein,the co-pyrolysis reaction characteristics of corn straw(CS)and bituminous coal in the presence of ilmenite oxygen carriers(OCs)are investigated via thermogravimetry coupled with mass spectrometry.The results reveal that the participation of OCs weakens the devolatilization intensity of co-pyrolysis.When the CS blending ratio is<50%,the mixed fuel exhibits positive synergistic effects.The fitting results according to the Coats-Redfern integral method show that the solid-solid interaction between OCs and coke changes the reaction kinetics,enhancing the co-pyrolysis reactivity at the high-temperature zone(750-950C).The synergistic effect is most prominent at a 30%CS blending ratio,with copyrolysis activation energy in the range of 26.35-40.57 kJ·mol^(-1).

Iron-based oxygen carriers in chemical looping conversions:A review

A solid oxygen carrier is usually applied in a chemical looping conversion process to transfer oxygen from the gaseous oxygen source to the fuel,which can avoid the direct contact of these two reactants and hence decrease the energy penalty of separation.Among the solid oxygen carriers,iron-based oxygen carrier is an attractive option due to its inherent properties of low cost and environmentally-friendly.Several processes such as chemical looping combustion(CLC),chemical looping gasification(CLG),chemical looping reforming(CLR),and chemical looping hydrogen generation(CLHG)have been proposed and investigated based on the iron-based oxygen carrier.In this review,the relevant researches on the iron-based oxygen carrier are summarized,which include the characteristics of iron oxides,the preparations of the iron-based oxygen carrier based on the iron ores and some other low-cost iron contained materials,and their applications in the continuous operated chemical looping conversion processes.It is expected to provide a better understanding for the development and utilization of iron-based oxygen carrier in the practical chemical looping processes.

Optimizing the sulfur-resistance and activity of perovskite oxygen carrier for chemical looping dry reforming of methane

Perovskite oxides has been attracted much attention as high-performance oxygen carriers for chemical looping reforming of methane,but they are easily inactivated by the presence of trace H_(2)S.Here,we propose to modulate both the activity and resistance to sulfur poisoning by dual substitution of Mo and Ni ions with the Fe-sites of LaFeO_(3)perovskite.It is found that partial substitution of Ni for Fe substantially improves the activity of LaFeO_(3)perovskite,while Ni particles prefer to grow and react with H_(2)S during the long-term successive redox process,resulting in the deactivation of oxygen carriers.With the presence of Mo in LaNi_(0.05)Fe_(0.95)O_(3−σ)perovskite,H_(2)S preferentially reacts with Mo to generate MoS_(2),and then the CO_(2)oxidation can regenerate Mo via removing sulfur.In addition,Mo can inhibit the accumulation and growth of Ni,which helps to improve the redox stability of oxygen carriers.The LaNi_(0.05)Mo_(0.07)Fe_(0.88)O_(3−σ)oxygen carrier exhibits stable and excellent performance,with the CH_(4)conversion higher than 90%during the 50 redox cycles in the presence of 50 ppm H_(2)S at 800℃.This work highlights a synergistic effect in the perovskite oxides induced by dual substitution of different cations for the development of high-performance oxygen carriers with excellent sulfur tolerance.

CO_(2)capture costs of chemical looping combustion of biomass:A comparison of natural and synthetic oxygen carrier

Chemical looping combustion has the potential to be an efficient and low-cost technology capable of contributing to the reduction of the atmospheric concentration of CO_(2) in order to reach the 1.5/2°C goal and mitigate climate change.In this process,a metal oxide is used as oxygen carrier in a dual fluidized bed to generate clean CO_(2) via combustion of biomass.Most commonly,natural ores or synthetic materials are used as oxygen carrier whereas both must meet special requirements for the conversion of solid fuels.Synthetic oxygen carriers are characterized by higher reactivity at the expense of higher costs versus the lower-cost natural ores.To determine the viability of both possibilities,a techno-economic comparison of a synthetic material based on manganese,iron,and copper to the natural ore ilmenite was conducted.The synthetic oxygen carrier was characterized and tested in a pilot plant,where high combustion efficiencies up to 98.4%and carbon capture rates up to 98.5%were reached.The techno-economic assessment resulted in CO_(2) capture costs of 75 and 40€/tCO_(2) for the synthetic and natural ore route respectively,whereas a sensitivity analysis showed the high impact of production costs and attrition rates of the synthetic material.The synthetic oxygen carrier could break even with the natural ore in case of lower production costs and attrition rates,which could be reached by adapting the production process and recycling material.By comparison to state-of-the-art technologies,it is demonstrated that both routes are viable and the capture cost of CO_(2) could be reduced by implementing the chemical looping combustion technology.

Simulation study on the gasification process of Ningdong coal with iron-based oxygen carrier

Chemical looping gasification(CLG) of Ningdong coal by using Fe_(2) O_(3) as the oxygen carriers(OCs) was studied,and the gasification characteristics were obtained.A computation fluid dynamics(CFD) model based on Eulerian--Lagrangian multiphase framework was established,and a numerical simulation the coal chemical looping gasification processes in fuel reactor(FR) was investigated.In addition,the heterogeneous reactions,homogeneous reactions and Fe_(2) O_(3) oxygen carriers' reduction reactions were considered in the gasification process.The characteristics of gas flow and gasification in the FR were analyzed and it was found that the experiment results were consistent with the simulation values.The results show that when the O/C mole rate was 0.5:1,the gasification temperature was 900℃ and the water vapor volume flow rate was 2.2 ml·min^(-1),the mole fraction of syngas reached a maximum value of the experimental result and simulation value were 71.5% and 70.2%,respectively.When the O/C mole rate was 0.5:1,the gasification temperature was 900℃,and the water vapor volume flow was 1.8 ml·min^(-1);the gasification efficiency reached the maximum value was 62.2%,and the maximum carbon conversion rate was 84.0%.

Chemical looping oxidative propane dehydrogenation controlled by oxygen bulk diffusion over FeVO_(4)oxygen carrier pellets

The oxygen distribution and evolution within the oxygen carrier exert significant influence on chemical looping processes.This paper describes the influence of oxygen bulk diffusion within FeVO4 oxygen carrier pellets on the chemical looping oxidative propane dehydrogenation(CL-ODH).During CL-ODH,the oxygen concentration at the pellet surface initially decreased and then maintained stable before the final decrease.At the stage with the stable surface oxygen concentration,the reaction showed a stable C3H6 formation rate and high C3H6 selectivity.Therefore,based on Fick’s second law,the oxygen distribution and evolution in the oxygen carrier at this stage were further analyzed.It was found that main reactions of selective oxidation and over-oxidation were controlled by the oxygen bulk diffusion.C3H8 conversion rate kept decreasing during this stage due to the decrease of the oxygen flux caused by the decline of oxygen gradient within the oxygen carrier,while C3H6 selectivity increased due to the decrease of overoxidation.In addition,reaction rates could increase with the propane partial pressure due to the increase of the oxygen gradient within the oxygen carrier until the bulk transfer reached its limit at higher propane partial pressure.This study provides fundamental insights for the diffusion-controlled chemical looping reactions.

Chemical looping catalytic gasification of biomass over active LaNixFe1-xO_(3)perovskites as functional oxygen carriers

Oxygen carriers(OCs)with perovskite structure are attracting increasing interests due to their redox tunability by introducing various dopants in the structure.In this study,LaNixFe1-xO3(x=0,0.1,0.3,0.5,0.7,1.0)perovskite OCs have been prepared by a citric acid–nitrate sol–gel method,characterized by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD)analysis and tested for algae chemical looping gasification in a fixed bed reactor.The effects of perovskite types,OC/biomass mass ratio(O/B),gasification temperature and water injection rate on the gasification performance were investigated.Lower Ni-doped(0≤x≤0.5)perovskites crystalized in the rhombohedra system which was isostructural with LaNiO3,while those with composition 0.5≤x≤1 crystalized in the orthorhombic system.Despite the high reactivity for LaNiO_(3),LaNi_(0.5)Fe_(0.5)O_(3)(LN5F5)was found to be more stable at a high temperature and give almost as good results as LaNiO_(3)in the formation of syngas.The relatively higher syngas yield of 0.833 m^(3)·kg^(-1) biomass was obtained under the O/B of 0.4,water injection rate of 0.3 ml·min^(-1) and gasification temperature at 850C.Continuous high yield of syngas was achieved during the first 5 redox cycles,while a slight decrease in the reactivity for LN5F5 after 5 cycles was observed due to the adhesion of small grains occurring on the surface of OCs.However,an obvious improvement in the gasification performance was attained for LN5F5 compared to raw biomass direct gasification,indicating that LN5F5 is a promising functional OC for chemical looping catalytic gasification of biomass.

Layered Mg-Al spinel supported Ce-Fe-Zr-O oxygen carriers for chemical looping reforming

A series of layered Mg-Al spinel supported Ce-Fe-Zr-O oxygen carriers were prepared for co-production of syngas and pure hydrogen via chemical looping steam reforming(CLSR).The presence of magnesium-aluminum layered double oxides(Mg Al-LDO)significantly increases the specific surface area of the mixed oxides,reduces the particle size of CeO2-based solid solution and promotes the dispersion of free Fe2O3.When reacting with methane,Mg Al-LDO supported oxygen carrier shows much lower temperature for methane oxidation than the pure CeFe-Zr-O sample,indicating enhanced low-temperature reactivity.Among different Ce-Fe-Zr-O(x)/Mg Al-LDO samples,the Ce-Fe-Zr-O(40 wt%)/Mg Al-LDO sample shows the best performance for the selective oxidation of methane to syngas and the H2 production by water splitting.After a long period of high temperature redox experiment,the Ce-Fe-Zr-O(40 wt%)/Mg Al-LDO oxygen carrier still shows high activity for syngas generation.The comparison on the morphology of the fresh and cycled oxygen carriers indicates that the Mg-Al spinel support still forms a stable skeleton structure with high dispersion of active components on the surface after the long-term cycling,which contributes to excellent redox stability of the Ce-Fe-Zr-O(40 wt%)/Mg Al-LDO oxygen carrier.

Thermodynamic Analysis and Synthesis Gas Generation by Chemical-Looping Gasification of Biomass with Nature Hematite as Oxygen Carriers

Thermodynamic parameters of chemical reactions in the system were carried out through thermodynamic analysis. According to the Gibbs free energy minimization principle of the system, equilibrium composition of the reactions of chemical-looping gasification (CLG) of biomass with natural hematite (Fe2O3) as oxygen carrier were analyzed using commercial software of HSC Chemistry 5.1. The feasibility of the CLG of biomass with hematite was experimental verified in a lab-scale bubbling fluidized bed reactor using argon as fluidizing gas. It was indicated the experimental results were consistent with the theoretical analysis. The presence of oxygen carrier gave a significant effect on the biomass conversion and improved the synthesis gas yield obviously. It was observed that the gas content of CO and H2 was over 70% in CLG of biomass. The reduced hematite particles mainly existed in form of FeO. It was showed that the reduction of natural hematite with biomass proceeds in a stepwise manner from Fe2O3 →Fe3O4→ FeO. Reduction product of natural hematite can be restored the lattice oxygen by oxidation with air.

Performance of Ni-based, Fe-based and Co-based Oxygen Carriers in Chemical-Looping Hydrogen Generation

Ni-based, Fe-based and Co-based oxygen carriers with perovskite oxides used as the supports were prepared by citric acid complexation method, The oxygen carriers were characterized by thermal analysis, H2-temperature-programmed reduction and X-ray diffraction methods. Performance tests were evaluated through Chemical-Looping Hydrogen Genera- tion in a fixed-bed reactor operating at atmospheric pressure. The characterization results showed that all samples were composed of metal oxides and perovskite oxides. Performance results indicated that CH4 conversion over the oxygen car- riers decreased in the lbllowing order： NiO/LaNiO3〉Co203/LaCoO3〉Fe203/LaFeO3. The ability of NiO/LaNiO3 and F%O3/ LaFeO3 to decompose water was stronger than that of Co203/LaCoO3 as evidenced by our experiments. H2 amounting to 80 mL upon reacting on methane in every cycle could be completely oxidized by NiO/LaNiO3 at 900℃ in the period from the third cycle to the eighth cycle.

Copper-based oxygen carriers supported with alumina/lime for the chemical looping conversion of gaseous fuels

Copper（Ⅱ） oxide in varying ratios was combined with either an alumina-based cement（Al300）, or CaO derived from limestone as support material in a mechanical pelletiser. This production method was used to investigate its influence on possible mechanical and chemical improvements for oxygen carriers in chemical looping processes. These materials were tested in a lab-scale fluidised bed with CO or CH;as a reducing gas at 950 °C. As expected, the oxygen carriers containing a greater ratio of support material exhibited an enhanced crushing strength. Oxygen carriers comprised of a 1:3 ratio of support material to active CuO exhibited increased crushing strength by a minimum of 280% compared to pure CuO pellets.All oxygen carriers exhibited a high CO conversion yield and were fully reducible from CuO to Cu. For the initial redox cycle, Al300-supported oxygen carriers showed the highest fuel and oxygen carrier conversion. The general trend observed was a decline in conversion with an increasing number of redox cycles.In the case of CaO-supported oxygen carriers, all but one of the oxygen carriers suffered agglomeration.The agglomeration was more severe in carriers with higher ratios of CuO. Oxygen carrier Cu25Al75（75 wt% aluminate cement and 25 wt% CuO）, which did not suffer from agglomeration, showed the highest attrition with a loss of approximately 8% of its initial mass over 25 redox cycles. The reducibility of the oxygen carriers was limited with CH;in comparison to CO. CH;conversion were 15%-25% and 50% for Cu25Ca75（25 wt% CuO and 75 wt% CaO） and Cu25Al75, respectively. Cu25Ca75 demonstrated improved conversion, whereas Cu25Al75 exhibited a trending decrease in conversion with increasing redox cycles.

Insights into the intrinsic interaction between series of C1 molecules and surface of NiO oxygen carriers involved in chemical looping processes

Understanding and modulating the interaction between various reactive molecules and oxygen carriers are the key issue to achieve process intensification of chemical looping technology.C1 chemical molecules play an important role in many reactions involved with chemical looping processes.However,up to now,there is still a lack of systematic and in-depth understanding of the adsorption mechanism of C1 molecules on the surface of oxygen carriers(OCs).In this work,the intrinsic interaction between a series of C1 molecules composed of CH4,CO,CO2,CH3OH,HCHO and HCOOH and surface of Ni O OCs in the chemical looping process have been studied using density functional theory calculations.Various adsorption configurations of C1 molecules and also different adsorption sites of Ni O have been considered.The structural features of stable configuration of C1 molecules on the surface of NiO OCs have been obtained.Further,the interacted sites,types and strengths of C1 molecules on the surface of NiO have been directly pictured by the independent gradient model methods.Also,the nature of the interaction between C1 molecule and Ni O surface has been investigated with the aid of energy decomposition analysis from a quantitative view.

Selective oxidation of methane to syngas using Pr_(0.7)Zr_(0.3)O_(2-δ): Stability of oxygen carrier

Pr0.7Zr0.3O2-δ solid solution was prepared by co-precipitation method and used as an oxygen carrier in the selective oxidation of methane to syngas(methane/air redox process). The evolution on the physicochemical properties of Pr0.7Zr0.3O2-δ during the redox process was studied by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD), H2 temperature-programmed reduction(H2-TPR), O2temperature-programmed desorption(O2-TPD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET) surface area measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) technologies. The results indicated that Pr0.7Zr0.3O2-δ solid solution showed the high activity for the methane conversion to syngas with a high CO selectivity in the range of 83.5%-88.1%. Though Pr-Zr solid solution possessed high thermal stability, lattice oxygen was obviously reduced for the recycled sample due to decreased surface oxygen which promoted oxygen vacancies. The increased oxygen vacancies seemed to enhance the oxygen transfer ability in the redox process and provided sufficient oxygen for the methane selective oxidation, resulting in a satisfactory activity. The problem of hot pot was avoided by comparing fresh, aged and recycle sample in the reaction.

Application of Fe_2O_3/Al_2O_3 Composite Particles as Oxygen Carrier of Chemical Looping Combustion

Chemical looping combustion （CLC） of carbonaceous compounds has been proposed, in the past decade, as an efficient method for CO2 capture without cost of extra energy penalties. The technique involves the use of a metal oxide as an oxygen carrier that transfers oxygen from combustion air to fuels. The combustion is carried out in a two-step process： in the fuel reactor, the fuel is oxidized by a metal oxide, and in the air reactor, the reduced metal is oxidized back to the original phase. The use of iron oxide as an oxygen carrier has been investigated in this article. Particles composed of 80 wt% Fe2O3, together with Al2O3 as binder, have been prepared by impregnation methods. X-ray diffraction （XRD） analysis reveals that Fe2O3 does not interact with the Al2O3 binder after multi-cycles. The reactivity of the oxygen carrier particles has been studied in twenty-cycle reduction-oxidation tests in a thermal gravimetrical analysis （TGA） reactor. The components in the outlet gas have been analyzed. It has been observed that about 85% of CH4 converted to CO2 and H2O during most of the reduction periods. The oxygen carrier has kept quite a high reactivity in the twenty-cycle reactions. In the first twenty reaction cycles, the reaction rates became slightly higher with the number of cyclic reactions increasing, which was confirmed by the scanning electron microscopy （SEM） test results. The SEM analysis revealed that the pore size inside the particle had been enlarged by the thermal stress during the reaction, which was favorable for diffusion of the gaseous reactants into the particles. The experimental results suggested that the Fe2O3/Al2O3 oxygen carrier was a promising candidate for a CLC system.

Comparison of LaFeO_3,La_(0.8)Sr_(0.2)FeO_3,and La_(0.8)Sr_(0.2)Fe_(0.9)CO_(0.1)O_3 perovskite oxides as oxygen carrier for partial oxidation of methane

Comparison of LaFeO3, La0.8Sr0.2FeO3, and La0.8Sr0.2Fe0.9CO0.1O3 perovskite oxides as oxygen carrier for partial oxidation of methane in the absence of gaseous oxygen was investigated by continuous flow reaction and sequential redox reaction, Methane was oxidized to syngas with high selectivity by oxygen species of perovskite oxides in the absence of gaseous oxygen. The sequential redox reaction revealed that the structural stability and continuous oxygen supply in redox reaction decreased over La0.8Sr0.2Fe0.9Co0. 1O3 oxide, while LaFeO3 and La0.8Sr0.2FeO3 exhibited excellent structural stability and continuous oxygen supply.

Effect of Gasifying Medium on the Coal Chemical Looping Gasification with CaSO_4 as Oxygen Carrier

The chemical looping gasification uses an oxygen carrier for solid fuel gasification by supplying insufficient lattice oxygen. The effect of gasifying medium on the coal chemical looping gasification with Ca SO4 as oxygen carrier is investigated in this paper. The thermodynamical analysis indicates that the addition of steam and CO2 into the system can reduce the reaction temperature, at which the concentration of syngas reaches its maximum value.Experimental result in thermogravimetric analyzer and a fixed-bed reactor shows that the mixture sample goes through three stages, drying stage, pyrolysis stage and chemical looping gasification stage, with the temperature for three different gaseous media. The peak fitting and isoconversional methods are used to determine the reaction mechanism of the complex reactions in the chemical looping gasification process. It demonstrates that the gasifying medium(steam or CO2) boosts the chemical looping process by reducing the activation energy in the overall reaction and gasification reactions of coal char. However, the mechanism using steam as the gasifying medium differs from that using CO2. With steam as the gasifying medium, parallel reactions occur in the beginning stage, followed by a limiting stage shifting from a kinetic to a diffusion regime. It is opposite to the reaction mechanism with CO2 as the gasifying medium.