Simplified model description of a CLOP reactor for system simulation and analysis

Abstract

In order to perform overall system simulations and optimization at the flowsheet level, simplified models of process units are required. We present a simplified model of the CLOP reactor (chemical looping for oxygen production) and compare it against a rigorous dynamic fixed bed model, which uses a 1D phenomenological approach. The model is validated towards the detailed model to verify that the performance is captured correctly. In this way, after model validation, system simulations can be performed and optimized both based on process flow configuration, and temperature/pressure ranges. When combined in a process simulation, the model can give an understanding of the potential of a given oxygen carrier material (OCM) for usage in power plants utilizing the novel COMPOSITE concept, which is a concept for energy production with CO2 capture. Both the rigorous and the simplified models are based on using fuel burning to maintain the desired operating reactor temperature. The model can be used for finding equilibrium points in the air and fuel reactors, and thus identify what is the limiting factor for the reactor performance.