Effect of calcination temperature and extent on the multi-cycle CO2 carrying capacity of lime-based sorbents

This paper investigates the effect of calcination temperature and duration on the cyclic CO2 capture performance of natural lime-based sorbents. Tests showed that increasing calcination temperature considerably reduced the sorbent reactivity over the first few calcination-carbonation cycles. No significant variation in performance was observed when a sorbent remained at the calcination temperature after completing limestone decomposition. On the other hand, incomplete limestone calcination significantly altered the sorbent cyclic utilization and CO2 carrying capacity. A semi-empirical method is proposed to estimate the fast reaction-controlled carbonation extent at different reaction cycles, calcination extents and temperatures. This method is shown to work well for two different naturally-derived limestones exposed to different calcination conditions.

Automated summary

This study found that increasing calcination temperature reduces the reactivity of solid sorbents, while incomplete calcination of limestone significantly alters its CO2 absorption capacity. The semi-empirical method proposed by the authors accurately estimates the fast reaction-controlled carbonation extent of different natural limestones under varying calcination conditions.