Contribution to the Modeling and Simulation of the Iron-Based Chemical Looping Combustion Process

• Published in: Energy technology (Weinheim, Germany) Germany), 2016-10, Vol.4 (10), p.1179-1187
• Main Authors: Cormos, Ana-Maria, Chisalita, Dora-Andreea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Beds (process engineering); Carbon capture and storage; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide emissions; Carbon sequestration; carbon storage; chemical looping combustion; Climate change; Climate models; Columns (process); Combustion; Computer simulation; Differential equations; Electric power distribution; Electric power generation; Electric power plants; Energy balance; Energy distribution; Fluidized bed combustion; Fluidized beds; Fossil fuels; gas velocity; Greenhouse gases; Iron; mathematical modeling; Mathematical models; Partial differential equations; Plug flow; Power plants; Solid phases
• ISSN: 2194-4288; 2194-4296
• DOI: 10.1002/ente.201600030

The increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are directly linked to climate change. Given that most of the world's electric energy comes from fossil‐fuel power plants, which produce a large amount of greenhouse gas (i.e., CO2), carbon capture and storage technologies seem to be a viable solution to reduce CO2 emissions. To investigate fossil‐fuel chemical looping combustion in fluidized bed columns, a dynamic mathematical model was herein developed. The complex phenomena taking place in the iron‐based chemical looping combustion process are described by assuming a pseudo‐homogeneous system and a plug–flow regime for the fluidized columns. The mass and energy balance equations were written by using partial differential equations for both the gaseous and solid phases present in the process. The distribution and temperatures profiles of the gaseous and solid components as well as a study on the influence of the superficial gas velocity on the particle distribution were generated by model simulation. This computational approach allows for significant progress in the systematic analysis of chemical looping combustion to assess its potential for integration into the next generation of fossil‐fuel power plants. Model behavior: A dynamic model is used to predict the influence of superficial gas velocity over the performance of the iron‐based chemical looping combustion process. By increasing the superficial gas velocity, more particles are carried out of the fluidized bed and the height of the dense zone (where most of the reaction takes place) is decreased, and this leads to a lower conversion rate.