Mass, energy, and exergy balance analysis of chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling (CLOU) process

Chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling (CLOU) is a promising concept for efficient combustion of solid fuels with an inherent capture of the greenhouse gas CO 2 . This paper presents a CLOU process scheme with stoichiometric mass, energy, and exergy balances. A CLOU reactor system using medium volatile bituminous coal as fuel and silica-supported CuO as an oxygen carrier is analyzed. The analysis includes the estimation of various design and operational parameters, thermal considerations, and evaluation of the overall performance. The operation of a reactor system of two interacting circulating fluidized beds (CFBs) is greatly influenced by the hydrodynamics. For the CuO oxygen carrier, the hydrodynamic operating range appeared feasible considering the maximum solid circulation rates in current CFB boilers. Depending upon the reactor temperatures, oxygen carrier inventories of 400–680 kg/MW in the system were found necessary for stoichiometric combustion of the fuel. The temperature difference between the reactors should not exceed 50 °C, as otherwise, problems may arise with the heat balance. Exergetic efficiencies in the range of 63–70% were obtained for different combinations of relevant design parameters. It is evident that the possible operating conditions in the system are closely related to the properties of the chosen oxygen carrier. However, the calculation procedure and design criteria presented here are applicable to any oxygen carrier to be used in the process.