Abstract
Chemical looping combustion (CLC) offers innovative carbon capture via oxygen carrier (OC) circulation between separate reactors. Circulating fluidized beds facilitate OC transport between fuel and air reactors for reduction and oxidation. By avoiding direct contact between fuel and air, minimal energy is required for CO2 separation. Disadvantages resulting from the conventional circulating fluidized bed system are the additional energy necessary for OC transportation and the challenge to operate at elevated pressure. A novel approach to CLC is proposed by considering a packed bed system with stationary OC particles undergoing periodic reduction and oxidation stages by shifting feed gas streams. The major design benefit lies in the prospect of process operation at high pressure. Finding optimal operating conditions is a mandatory step prior to implementing the process at industrial level. In this work, COMSOL Multiphysics was used for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling in order to simulate the syngas-based CLC process with ilmenite OC in a packed bed reactor configuration. Mass, momentum and heat transfer mechanisms were accounted for to describe the combustion, purge and regeneration stages within a bed of randomly packed spherical OC particles at both macro- and micro-scale dimensions. The scope of the particle-resolved CFD multiscale model with realistic bed morphology was the in-depth analysis of the intraparticle phenomena occurring during the redox reactions, with emphasis on heat transport. Model results agree with published literature and provide additional understanding regarding the process in order to contribute towards the design of a flexible and energy efficient power plant concept.
Graphical abstract
Modelling syngas-based CLC steps considering a realistic packed bed morphology for ilmenite OC conversion
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Abbreviations
- Cp :
-
Heat capacity [kJ·kg−1·K−1]
- c:
-
Concentration [mol·m−3]
- DL :
-
Axial dispersion [m2·s−1]
- Dp :
-
Intraparticle diffusion [m2·s−1]
- Dp Eff :
-
Effective intraparticle diffusion [m2·s−1]
- dp :
-
Particle diameter [m]
- ΔHR :
-
Enthalpy of reaction [J·mol−1]
- i:
-
Species index [-]
- J:
-
Molar flux [mol·m−2·s−1]
- k:
-
Thermal conductivity [W·m−1·K−1]
- kCO,:
-
D, Reaction rate constant [s−1]
- kc :
-
Fluid-particle interface mass transfer coefficient [m·s−1]
- kT :
-
Heat transfer coefficient [kJ·m−2·K−1·s−1]
- L:
-
Bed length [m]
- m:
-
Mass [kg]
- mp :
-
Particle mass [kg]
- N:
-
Bed to particle diameter ratio [-]
- ΔP:
-
Pressure drop estimation [Pa]
- p:
-
Relative pressure [Pa]
- QR :
-
Reaction heat sink/source [W·m−3]
- q0 :
-
Heat flux [W·m−2]
- R:
-
Reaction rate [mol·m−3·s−1]
- rp :
-
Particle radius [m]
- T:
-
Temperature [K]
- t:
-
Time [s]
- u:
-
Velocity [m·s−1]
- Vp :
-
Particle volume [m3]
- εp :
-
Particle porosity (i.e., void) [-]
- κ:
-
Permeability [m2]
- μ:
-
Dynamic viscosity [Pa·s]
- ρ:
-
Density [kg·m−3]
- τ:
-
Viscous stress tensor [N·m−2]
- Ψ:
-
Friction factor
- CCS:
-
Carbon capture and storage
- CFB:
-
Circulating fluidized bed
- CFD:
-
Computational fluid dynamics
- CLC:
-
Chemical looping combustion
- CLR:
-
Chemical looping reforming
- GHG:
-
Greenhouse gas
- GTCC:
-
Gas turbine combined cycle
- IGCC:
-
Integrated gasification combined cycle
- OC:
-
Oxygen carrier
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Acknowledgements
This research was financed by two grants of Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, CCCDI—UEFISCDI, project numbers: PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2019-0181 and PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-0032, within PNCDI III.
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Conceptualization, V.C.S., A.M.C, and C.C.C.; validation, V.C.S., A.M.C, and C.C.C.; formal analysis, V.C.S., A.M.C, and C.C.C.; investigation, V.C.S., A.M.C, and C.C.C.; resources, A.M.C, and C.C.C.; methodology, V.C.S., A.M.C, and C.C.C.; supervision, A.M.C, and C.C.C.; writing-review and editing, V.C.S., A.M.C, and C.C.C.
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Sandu, VC., Cormos, CC. & Cormos, AM. CFD simulation of syngas chemical looping combustion with randomly packed ilmenite oxygen carrier particles. Clean Techn Environ Policy 26, 129–147 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-023-02608-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-023-02608-x