Red mud-based perovskite oxygen carrier preparation for chemical looping gasification of municipal sludge.

Chemical looping gasification (CLG) is a promising technology that utilizes lattice oxygen for partial oxidation of solid organic waste to produce high-quality syngas. The utilization of low-cost and high-performance oxygen carriers (OCs) is important for the success of this technology. The red mud from aluminum production was mixed with calcium and manganese oxides to prepare CaMn0.5Fe0.5O3-δ perovskite OCs. The comparative redox tests were carried out to analyze the reactivity using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Multiple cycle CLG experiments were conducted on a wet municipal sludge in a lab-scale fluidized bed to produce the hydrogen-rich gas. The results showed that the CaMn0.5Fe0.5O3-δ-washed demonstrated higher oxygen transfer capacity and better cycling stability with a maximum weight loss of 7.3096 %. After the 5th cycle in CLG, the syngas obtained using CaMn0.5Fe0.5O3-δ-washed maintained a H2 volume fraction exceeding 40%. However, an increase in CO2 production was also observed, which could be due to the catalytic effect of MnO in the OC on the steam-reforming reaction. The XRD curves showed that fresh CaMn0.5Fe0.5O3-δ-washed exhibited prominent diffraction peaks characteristic of perovskite. It was observed that after undergoing 5 cycles, the presence of iron calcium silicate structures containing Mn became evident due to the attachment of sludge ash, leading to the increased impurities on the surface of OCs with a decrease in the specific surface area. Additionally, some of the reacted OC particles exhibited a hollow structure, facilitating the fluidization. This preliminary study provides the basis for the improvement of the OC performance in sludge gasification.

Investigation on the Chemical-Looping Reaction Characteristics of Ningdong Coal with Manganese Ore.

In order to explore an efficient and clean conversion way of Ningdong coal, the chemical-looping reaction of Ningdong coal was conducted in a laboratory-scale fluidized-bed reactor using manganese ore as the oxygen carrier (OC), and the reaction characteristics were investigated in combination by thermogravimetric analysis. Experiments included the investigation of the reaction of the manganese ore with 5 vol % H2 and with coal powder at 900 °C, the catalytic and OC effect of manganese ore on coal gasification, the reaction efficiency and reaction products under different mass ratios of OC to coal (O/C), and the effect of multiple cycles on the reaction performance of the manganese ore. At 900 °C, the OC exhibited higher reactivity with coal syngas, significantly reducing the time of coal gasification (∼48% reduction). The manganese ore itself contained alkali metals, exhibiting a certain capacity for sulfur fixation, but the sulfur fixation was gradually weakened during multicycle experiments. The manganese ore did not exhibit any inhibition effect on NO x emission. From the wear rate of the manganese ore during fluidized reaction, its service life could be deduced to be about 150 h. Hence, it is necessary to improve the strength of the manganese ore OC.