Fe2O3 on Ce-, Ca- or Mg-stabilized ZrO2 as oxygen carrier for chemical-looping combustion using NiO as additive

Oxygen-carrier particles for chemical-looping combustion have been manufactured by freeze granulation. The particles consisted of 60 wt % Fe2O3 as active phase and 40 wt % stabilized ZrO2 as support material. Ce, Ca, or Mg was used to stabilize the ZrO2. The hardness and porosity of the particles were altered by varying the sintering temperature. The oxygen carriers were examined by redox experiments in a batch fluidized- bed reactor at 800–950\ub0C, using CH4 as fuel. The experiments showed good reactivity between the particles and CH4. NiO was used as an additive and was found to reduce the fraction of unconverted CH4 with up to 80%. The combustion efficiency was 95.9% at best and was achieved using 57 kg oxygen carrier per MW fuel. Most produced oxygen carriers appear to have been decently stable, but using Ca as stabilizer resulting in uneven results. Further, particles sintered at high temperatures had a tendency to defluidize