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

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 CH4 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 H2/CH4/coal CLC tests, achieving an oxygen loss ratio of 6 wt %, a CH4 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 Fe2O3 and CuFe2O4, 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.