Cooperative US-Swedish Research on Chemical Looping Combustion with Oxygen Uncoupling: Planning Visit to Chalmers University

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Through a research planning visit, Dr. Kevin Whitty of the University of Utah will initiate a collaborative project with Swedish partners, Drs. Anders Lyngfelt, Tobias Martison, and Henrik Leion, at the Chalmers University in Gothenburg. Together, they intend to pursue questions related to chemical looping combustion by drawing on the renowned expertise in chemical looping at Chalmers and the well established strengths in chemical kinetics at the University of Utah. The Swedish partners offer bench-scale pilot facilities for chemical looping combustion with interconnected fluidized beds that can be used to oxidize a variety of gaseous fuels and coals. This is complemented by the Utah group's progress in developing kinetic parameters needed to model the combustion of coal and petroleum coke with an oxygen carrier. The initial collaboration is expected to help the U.S.-Swedish team extend their research with the goal of accelerating progress in the field of chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling (CLOU) . If successful, results may contribute to the fundamental engineering required to understand and develop a CLOU process that effectively reduces the residence time for solids in fuel reactors by a significant percent. Likely broader impacts include advances in knowledge of theoretical and practical CO2 capture. Envisioned long-term applications could lead to designs for continuous reactors to demonstrate CLOU at larger scales and at reduced costs. To build on preliminary findings, the principal investigator plans to submit a follow-on application to the National Science Foundation for cooperative research on related transport and thermal fluids phenomena. Furthermore, one U.S. graduate student from the University of Utah will travel with Dr. Whitty to Gothenburg and participate in joint activities at Chalmers, thereby gaining beneficial international research experience. This early career access to expert Swedish engineers and specialized reactor scaling should lead to a beneficial professional network in the increasingly important fields related to energy and combustion.