This project concentrates two main topics which have a single purpose: the investigation of combustion processes that do not require any flue gas separation process to allow the CO2 capture.
Specifically, two technologies are chosen to accomplish with this task: the Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) and the Oxyfuel combustion.
In order to facilitate the text reading, each part of the present manuscript is divided into two work streams: (A) – CLC and (B) – the Oxyfuel combustion.
Work Stream A
The uttermost objective of the work stream A is the development of chemical looping combustion (CLC) processes using strategic fuels to the Brazilian energy mix.
Special attention will be given to oxygen carrier (OC) particles compositions (and particles structures) of available raw material in Brazil. To attend the above mentioned objective; this project has two main goals:
- Development and construction of reference burners for model validation.
- Development of model able to capture the combustion process of different fuels.
The construction of CLC burners shall allow a broader and deeper comprehension about the underlying phenomena associated with reaction processes.
A significant part of experimental investigations has been conducted given a specific technological target. The central concept behind the proposed task is to construct universal burners that can be used as a benchmark for experimental research as well as a target case for model validation.
The process modelling is a common point between both listed goals. Indeed, experimental and numerical research activities are indispensable to achieve more understanding of CLC reaction processes. Because of the development of modelling strategies, the motivation to reach this goal is twofold.
First, the model shall be used to validate the proposed universal burners and to demonstrate its versatility. Second, the modelling strategy shall contribute the comprehension about the underlying phenomena to the CLC. Such an outcome is expected to significantly add to the design and optimization of burners in the so-called state-of-the-art.
Particularly, the development of robust and reliable models is the main focus of many recent works in CLC [1], [2]. However, as perceived from different publications, detailed data are still missing and seemly working as a bottleneck in such a model development. In this sense, this work will sum efforts to contribute to both demands.
As secondary objectives, it is possible to list:
- Chemical kinetics analysis following TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis)
- Investigation of OC particles for flexible gaseous fuel CLC
- Investigation of the usage of biomass-based fuels in CLC
Work Stream B
The main objective of the work stream B is to contribute to the mitigation of CO2 emissions in power plants fired with Natural Gas or Biogas by using the oxy-steam combustion technology. This work stream has two central goals:
G1: Development of expertise in oxyfuel combustion based on numerical and experimental studies. The focus will be set on natural gas and biogas combustion diluted with water steam (also denoted as oxy-steam combustion);
G2: Development and construction of reference oxy-steam burners for numerical model validation, as well as design and construction of a laboratory-scale oxy-steam burner to demonstrate its technical feasibility as a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology.
TEAM
Project Deputy-Coordinator: Fernando Luiz Sacomano Filho