Use of Ores and Industrial Products As Oxygen Carriers in Chemical-Looping Combustion

A screening of Fe- and Mn-based ores and industrial products was made in order to identify suitable low-cost materials that could be used as oxygen carriers in chemical-looping combustion (CLC). A laboratory fluidized bed reactor system, simulating chemical-looping combustion by exposing the sample to alternating reducing and oxidizing conditions, was used. Fifteen grams of each material with a particle size of 125−180 μm was exposed to a flow of 450 mLn/min of either methane or syngas (50% CO, 50% H2) during reduction. During the oxidizing phase to a flow of 1000 mLn/min, 5% O2 in nitrogen was used. All materials had a high reactivity with syngas. Some materials such as the Mn-based Colormax and the Fe-based Glödskal had also a high reactivity with methane making them possible candidates for CLC with gaseous fuel. Some of the materials, especially the Mn-based ones, showed poor mechanical stability and poor fluidizing properties. Roughly half of the Fe-based materials, but only one of the Mn-based materials, had properties that could make them suitable as oxygen carriers in a CLC system for solid fuels.