Chemical looping technologies for a low-carbon energy future

在不久的将来，我们的社会将需要一系列更有效和更可扩展的化学转化技术，这些技术对于低碳燃料经济的运作至关重要，包括但不限于低碳氢气生产。在这种低碳燃料经济中，氢被定位为一种重要的能源载体；同时也是化工和石化行业中大量过程的重要原料。反应工程是这种化学转化的核心，化学环具有诱人的特性，使其成为一种有前景的能源生产脱碳技术。最近的进展表明，如果使用设计良好的氧气载体材料(OCM)，化学环流反应器能够产生纯氢流。设计良好的载氧材料的特征应该包括高活性、能够承受机械磨损环境(如在流态化床反应器中发现的环境)和处置时对环境的低影响。该项目的研究将涉及选择用于化学环流反应器系统的适当反应、OCM的设计和制造、反应器的设计和操作、该工艺的经济评价以及将从这些技术中受益的工艺的影响评估。

In the near future our society will require a range of more efficient and scalable chemical conversion technologies pivotal to the functioning of a low-carbon fuel economy including, but not limited to, low-carbon hydrogen production. Hydrogen is positioned as an important energy carrier in this low-carbon fuel economy; as well as maintaining a crucial role as feedstock for a plethora of processes across the chemical and petrochemical industries.Reaction engineering lies at the heart of such chemical conversions, with chemical looping possessing attractive properties which make it a promising technology for the decarbonisation of energy production. Recent advances have demonstrated that a chemical looping reactor is able to produce a pure stream of hydrogen if the reactor employs a well-designed oxygen carrier material (OCM). The characteristics of a well-designed oxygen carrying material should include high activity, the ability to withstand mechanically abrasive environments (such as those found in fluidised bed reactors) and a low environmental impact upon disposal. Such novel chemical looping processes will lead to transformational developments for the chemical industry and associated energy technologies.The research for this project will involve the selection of appropriate reactions for use in chemical looping reactor systems, the design and fabrication of the OCM, the design and operation of the reactor, economic evaluation of the process and impact assessment of processes that would benefit from such technologies.