Work Package 3

Oxygen carriers and characterisation of fuel phenomena

Lead beneficiary: SINTEF Energy Research
Other contributors: IFPEN, SINTEF Industry, ZHEJIANG, SILESIAN
Work package title: Oxygen carriers and characterisation of fuel conversion phenomena
Start month: 1 (October 2017)
End month: 50 (November 2021)

Objectives:

  • To ensure proper oxygen carriers for petcoke conversion by CLC technology
  • To characterise oxygen carriers optimised for solid fuels with exceedingly high content of sulphur and
    metals
  • To provide new knowledge on CLC via simulation of reactions and multi-flow phenomena
  • To specify recipes for semi-industrial production of bespoke oxygen carriers (300 kg)

Description of work:

In CHEERS, the verification of oxygen carriers is an integrated activity which covers proven oxygen carriers, new local sources of supply (in Europe and China), and optimisation of fuel conversion. Oxygen carriers should be capable of sustaining the exceedingly high sulphur and metals contents associated with petcoke. Petcoke conversion is challenging due to low volatility, which makes petcoke less reactive than most solid fuels. The interaction between oxygen carriers and the petcoke gasification/burn-out is vital to the process efficacy. This interaction may also cause critical agglomeration and sulphur passivation.

Although some oxygen-carrier materials have already emerged, it is anticipated that bespoke oxygen carriers must be especially composed to ensure compatibility with petcoke. It is generally accepted that the lifetime of oxygen carriers is one of the most important characteristics. This generally means that candidate oxygen carriers should be inert to elements resulting from petcoke conversion. They must maintain a reasonably high reactivity and be insensitive to sulphur and metal-ions. Some oxygen-carrier materials even remove metal-ions, thus offering in-situ cleaning of combustibles. If these features can be combined, they may reduce process losses and cut costs associated with corrosion and cleaning. An inherent prerequisite is that absorbed metal-ions are prevented from clogging on the bed material. Testing of selected materials will be conducted under relevant conditions.