Chemical Looping Partial Oxidation Without Air Separation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing chemical looping processes for power generation using carbonaceous fuels often require air separation units (ASU) and produce CO2 as the primary carbon-containing product, which limits their commercial viability and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A chemical looping system employing metal oxide particles with multiple oxidation states in a co-current flow pattern reactor, where the carbonaceous fuel is converted to CO as the primary product, allowing for the production of syngas without significant CO2 production and without the need for an ASU, utilizing a multi-step process involving oxidation and regeneration of metal oxide particles to generate heat and hydrogen.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If chemical looping processes use air separation units (ASU) to produce CO2 as primary product, then CO2 can be sequestered, but the system complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the air separation unit from the chemical looping system, replacing it with a configuration that directly produces CO as the primary product. This eliminates the need for complex ASU while maintaining CO2 sequestration capability through alternative pathways, thereby reducing system complexity while preserving environmental benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using chemical looping to produce CO2 for sequestration (conventional approach), the invention inverts the approach by using chemical looping to produce CO as the primary product. This reversal eliminates the need for ASU and associated complexity, while CO can still be converted to CO2 for sequestration if needed, achieving the same environmental goal through a different pathway.
2Use of energy by moving object
If chemical looping processes produce CO2 as primary carbon-containing product, then energy conversion is complete, but commercial viability decreases due to ASU requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the product distribution parameters of the chemical looping process, shifting from complete oxidation (CO2 as primary product) to partial oxidation (CO as primary product). This parameter change maintains energy conversion efficiency while eliminating ASU requirements, thereby improving commercial viability without sacrificing energy efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of complete oxidation of carbonaceous fuels to CO2, the invention employs partial oxidation to produce CO as the primary product. This partial action approach maintains high energy conversion efficiency while avoiding the need for expensive ASU infrastructure, thus improving commercial viability.
3Productivity
If co-current flow pattern is used in fuel conversion reactor, then CO production is enhanced, but process control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs a dynamic co-current flow pattern in the fuel conversion reactor where both gas and solid particles move in the same direction. This dynamic configuration enhances CO production by optimizing contact between reactants while the flow pattern itself provides inherent control stability, reducing the actual control complexity despite the enhanced productivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the production of CO as the primary carbon-containing product, facilitating the generation of syngas for organic fluids and power, while avoiding the need for ASU and minimizing CO2 production, thus enhancing energy conversion efficiency and commercial viability.
Implementation Method 1
oxidized metal in said particles is reduced to a lower oxidation state, thereby providing said gaseous output
Implementation Method 2
contacting the reduced particles with an oxygen-containing gas stream so as to oxidize the metal in the reduced particles
Implementation Method 3
which fully regenerates the original metal oxide and produces significant amounts of heat that can be used to produce steam for power
Implementation Method 4
Heat produced by the highly exothermic regeneration step can be transferred to the vessel where the endothermic fuel conversion step is performed
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6a
AI summary
Processes, systems and equipment can be used to convert carbonaceous fuel to an output gas stream that includes CO as a primary C-containing product. In some embodiments, the processes and systems also can produce H2 in a separate reaction, with the H2 advantageously being capable of being combined with the CO from a partial oxidation process to provide syngas which, in turn, can be used to produce fuels and chemicals. The processes and systems can be tuned so as to not produce significant amounts of CO2 and do not require an air separation unit.