Experimental Study on Coal Chemical Looping Combustion Using CuFe₂O₄ as Oxygen Carrier

Abstract

Chemical-looping combustion (CLC) has been proposed as an efficient and clean technology that could contribute to achieve carbon dioxide capture with negligible cost. The technology uses a metal oxide as oxygen carrier that indirectly transfer oxygen from air to fuels to oxidize the fuels. CuFe2O4 was prepared as a novel oxygen carrier to decrease the cost of raw material and increase the reactivity of iron-based oxygen carrier. The structure of the prepared oxygen carrier was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and an X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The reaction of CuFe2O4 with coal was tested in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Results showed that the pyrolysis of coal under CO2 was more complete than that under N2, and the final conversion of CuFe2O4 during CLC of coal reached 66.6%. SEM images and BET surface area of the fresh and the used oxygen carrier show little agglomeration during the process.