Investigation of Chemical-looping Gasification Characteristics of Chinese Western Coals with Hematite-CuO Oxygen Carrier

In order to realize highly efficient conversion of Chinese western bituminous coals into syngas, a series of chemical-looping gasification experiments was conducted with hematite-CuO oxygen carrier in a laboratory-scale fluidized-bed reactor. The results indicated that the gasification rate of Chinese western bituminous increased by 2-3 times after addition of a hematite-CuO oxygen carrier. Meanwhile, the syngas yields of Chinese western bituminous ranged from 1.84–2.04 m3/kg, three times higher than that of lignite. This shows that the combination of chemical-looping technology and gasification of coal can achieve efficient conversion of Chinese/western bituminous coals. The temperature and the supply oxygen coefficient (O/C) all demonstrated a clear effect on the gasification rates and the gas yields. 10 cycles of redox experiments indicated that the hematite-CuO oxygen carriers have good recycled reaction characteristics. Those results provide theoretical guidance for the efficient conversion of Chinese western bituminous coals into syngas via chemical-looping gasification