CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT OF ROTATING BED REACTOR FOR CHEMICAL LOOPING COMBUSTION USING METHANE AS FUEL AND COPPER OXIDE AS AN OXYGEN CARRIER

Abstract

A CFD model of a rotating bed reactor for chemical looping combustion involving the catalyzed reaction of methane with oxygen using a CuO-based oxygen carrier was developed in this work. The effects of process parameters (e.g., reactor rotation frequency, bed thickness and gas flow regions) on reactor performance were validated against experimental work published by Hakonsen (2011) and explored for a broader range of operating conditions. Three rotation speeds of 1, 2 and 4 RPM and three different bed thickness values of 10, 12 and 14 mm along with six different geometrical designs were simulated and used to propose a dimensionless graphical method of justifying design modifications in future reactors. The optimum combustion:purge:oxidation:purge angle ratios were found to be 106.52°:66.94°:126.01°:60.53°. For this configuration, the RPM can be adjusted for a given bed thickness and combustion rate to yield a total dimensionless rotation period of t/tbed = 12.37.