Chemical‐looping gasification of coal with CuFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> oxygen carriers: The reaction characteristics and structural evolution
Mei An, Qingjie Guo, Jingjing Ma, Xiude Hu
Abstract
Abstract In this study, coal gasification to produce synthesis gas by chemical looping was investigated with CuFe 2 O 4 oxygen carriers (OCs), including the reaction characteristics and structural evolution process. It was found that the presence of a CuFe 2 O 4 OC increases the gasification reaction rate of coal in comparison to the use of inert bed material (silica sand). The CuFe 2 O 4 OC enhanced the performance of hematite and improved the ability to produce syngas of CuO OCs. During the chemical looping process, CuFe 2 O 4 was reduced to Fe 3 O 4 and Cu. Furthermore, N 2 adsorption/desorption and scanning electron microscopy images verified that the released O 2 and the generated CO 2 by the CuFe 2 O 4 OCs improved the carbon conversion and facilitated the pore opening and expansion shown by the increase in specific surface area. This can be used as a theoretical reference that can be used to gain a better understanding of the microscopic mechanism for how CuFe 2 O 4 OCs can accelerate the chemical looping gasification of coal.