Calcium oxide has been proved to be a suitable sorbent for high temperature CO 2 capture processes based on the cyclic carbonation-calcination reaction. It is important to have reaction rate models that are able to describe the behavior of CaO particles with respect to the carbonation reaction. Fresh calcined lime is known to be a reactive solid toward carbonation, but the average sorbent particle in a CaO-based CO 2 capture system experiences many carbonation-calcination cycles and the reactivity changes with the number of cycles. This study applies the random pore model (RPM) to estimate the intrinsic rate parameters for the carbonation reaction and develops a simple model to calculate particle conversion with time as a function of the number of cycles, partial pressure of CO 2 , and temperature. This version of the RPM model integrates knowledge obtained in earlier works on intrinsic carbonation rates, critical product layer thickness, and pore structure evolution in highly cycled particles.

This paper presents the basic economics of an emerging concept for CO2 capture from flue gases in power plants. The complete system includes three key cost components: a full combustion power plant, a second power plant working as an oxy-fired fluidized bed calciner, and a fluidized bed carbonator interconnected with the calciner and capturing CO2 from the combustion power plant. The simplicity in the economic analysis is possible because the key cost data for the two major first components are well established in the open literature. It is shown that there is clear scope for a breakthrough in capture cost to around 15 $/t of CO2 avoided with this system. This is mainly because the capture system is generating additional power (from the additional coal fed to the calciner) and because the avoided CO2 comes from the capture of the CO2 generated by the coal fed to the calciner and the CO2 captured (as CaCO3) from the flue gases of the existing power plant, that is also released in the calciner.