A review of chemical looping combustion technology: Fundamentals, and development of natural, industrial waste, and synthetic oxygen carriers

Abstract

This review aims to give a detailed knowledge of the selection and fabrication methods of oxygen carrier (OC) materials for the Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) reporting up to 2022. The CLC process is a well-known chemical technology for capturing CO2 emissions with the generation of energy. In this process, OCs are utilized as a medium for oxygen transportation between fuel and air reactors. The main challenge in scaling up the CLC process is the development of appropriate OCs with optimal properties, including high transport oxygen capacity, reactivity, and stability. This review compiles the fundamentals of the CLC process using gaseous fuel, the kinetics of the reduction and oxidation reactions, and extensive studies on the fabrication of OC materials. In addition to the natural ore and industrial waste OCs, this paper extensively discussed the synthesized OCs. The synthetic OCs are classified based on the preparation methods including mechanical mixing, sol–gel, co-precipitation, impregnation, freeze granulation, and spray-drying. For each study, the active phase, support material, operating condition, and key findings are reported. Finally, the different lab- and pilot-scales operating facilities are summarized.