Comparative Investigation on Chemical Looping Combustion of Coal-Derived Synthesis Gas containing H2S over Supported NiO Oxygen Carriers

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) of simulated coal-derived synthesis gas was conducted with NiO oxygen carriers supported on SiO2, ZrO2, TiO2, and sepiolite. The effect of H2S on the performance of these samples for the CLC process was also evaluated. Five-cycle thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) tests at 800 °C indicated that all oxygen carriers had a stable performance at 800 °C, except NiO/SiO2. Full reduction/oxidation reactions of the oxygen carrier were obtained during the five-cycle test. It was found that support had a significant effect on reaction performance of NiO both in reduction and oxidation rates. The reduction reaction was significantly faster than the oxidation reaction for all oxygen carriers, while the oxidation reaction is fairly slow due to oxygen diffusion on NiO layers. The reaction profile was greatly affected by the presence of H2S, but there was no effect on the capacity due to the presence of H2S in synthesis gas. The presence of H2S decreased reduction reaction rates significa...