Use of a Low-Cost Colombian Manganese Mineral as a Solid Oxygen Carrier in Chemical Looping Combustion Technology

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) has been classified as an energy efficient technology for capturing CO2 emitted in combustion processes. CLC uses metal oxides as solid oxygen carriers (OCs), which transfer oxygen from air to fuel, avoiding direct contact between them, and thus obtaining a high-CO2 purity flue gas that facilitates the capture and storage of CO2. The viability of the process largely depends on the properties of the OCs, which is why this investigation is focused on characterizing a manganese mineral (OXMN009) from the department of Valle del Cauca in Colombia and evaluating its performance as a low-cost OC for the CLC process with the gasification products (CO and H-2) of carbon-based solids (carbon, solid waste, biomass, etc.) as combustion fuel through thermogravimetric analysis tests and tests on the pilot scale in a batch fluidized bed reactor. OXMN009 did not present chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling properties but showed high reactivity with CO and H-2 and good mechanical properties that are maintained when it is exposed to multiple redox cycles, which makes it a promising material for use as an OC in syngas-CLC and iG-CLC.

Automated summary

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is an energy efficient technology for capturing CO2 emissions in combustion processes, using solid oxygen carriers to transfer oxygen from air to fuel. Research has shown that a manganese mineral may be a promising low-cost oxygen carrier material for CLC applications.