Experimental and Computational Study of Oxygen Carriers in Chemical Looping Combustion

Abstract

In this paper, the fluidization properties of possible oxygen carriers in Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) have been studied. Experiments were performed in a cold fluidized bed to study fluidization properties of particles having similar properties that of oxygen carriers. The particles used are Zirconium oxides, glass beads and sand. Minimum fluidization velocity, bed expansion and bubble behaviors of the particles have been studied. The Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) is used to analyze bubbles in different planes in the bed of particles. The oxidation properties of ilmenite particles has been studied using Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA). Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) numerical method is chosen to model the particle fluidization and the model was simulated using a commercial CFD software ANSYS Fluent. 2D models were simulated for most of particles and a 3D model was simulated for white ZrO. The simulation results are compared with experimental. The bubble behavior and bed expansion are similar in experiments and simulation. The experimental and simulation results for the particles shows that the ilmenite particles have good fluidization and oxidization properties which can be used in CLC.

Experimental and Computational Study of Oxygen Carriers in Chemical Looping Combustion