Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) has unique advantages for CO2 capture. Particles (the oxygen carrier) that circulate between two fluidized beds, transfer oxygen from air to fuel. Thus, the fuel is burnt without mixing of fuel and combustion air, consequently the CO2 formed in combustion is not diluted in the nitrogen of the air. The magic advantage is that essentially pure CO2 is obtained without any costly gas separation.

This MSc project will focus on developing a low-cost oxygen carrier for biomass fuel, i.e. for negative CO2 emissions. Preliminary research shows that mixing low-cost manganese ore and limestone, can raise oxygen carrier reactivity substantially through the spontaneous formation of calcium manganate, known to be a very reactive oxygen carrier. The idea is to investigate this further in a small, continuously operating 300 W CLC reactor. In addition to a MSc thesis, we expect the work will be published in a scientific journal.

Die Transportsektoren Luft- und Schifffahrt sind schwierig zu elektrifizieren. Biofuels mit negativen CO2-Emissionen können einen erheblichen Beitrag zur Nachhaltigkeit dieser Sektoren leisten. Am EST wurden dafür im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts CARBIOW Reststoffe aus Biomasse in einem Wirbelschichtreaktor im 1 MWth Pilot-Maßstab und Labor.Maßstab zu Synthesegas umgewandelt. Nun soll der Prozess genauer mithilfe Simulationen in Aspen Plus untersucht werden. Prozesssimulationen untersucht werden.

At the Institute for Energy Systems and Technology (EST), a promising CO2 capture process, the Indirectly Heated Carbonate Looping (IHCaL), is being developed for integration into lime and cement plants, to reduce the associated CO2 emissions. Combining IHCaL with other capture methods, such as absorption with monoethanolamine (MEA), could further reduce the specific energy consumption (SPECCA) and the cost of the entire system. Some hybrid solutions have been proposed, but a process optimization considering techno-economics is still required to assess the potential.

Wirbelschichten stellen eine innovative Prozessform der thermochemischen Konversion nachhaltiger Festbrennstoffe wie Ersatzbrennstoffen und Biomasse dar. Zur Weiterentwicklung dieser Prozesse ist eine Charakterisierung der Zweiphasenströmung notwendig. Hierfür soll eine entsprechendes kapazitives Messsystem in Betrieb genommen sowie Versuche durchgeführt und Messdaten ausgewertet werden.