CLC HOT RIG (NO2.1)

The CLC rig is a Double Loop Circulating Fluidized Bed reactor system used for research on chemical looping combustion. The design values are 150 kW fuel input and reactor temperatures of up to 1000°C. The rig consists of an Air Reactor (AR) and a Fuel Reactor (FR), interconnected by loop-seals and a bottom lifter. The reactor design is flexible, and the fuel reactor can be run both as a CFB and as a bubbling bed because of the possibilities of using the bottom lifter.

The reactors are 6 m tall with internal diameters 230 mm and 154 mm for AR and FR, respectively. The reactor system is equipped with exhaust gas coolers that can be cooled with pressurized air or steam. The main operational characteristics of the rig can be listed as follows:

• Air feed flow rate up to 410 kg/h, preheat temperature 20 – 900°C for primary air to AR.
• Total pressurized air supply: 10 m3/min air at 8 bar from own compressor.
• Reactor pressure up to 300 mbar (g) and temperature up to 1000°C.
• Methane, propane, hydrogen fuel gases, and nitrogen and CO2 for fluidization, fed from bottle batteries.
• A steam generator is connected to the facility to provide steam for fluidization and enhanced fuel conversion.
• Two screw feeders for solid fuels available, one for small fuel particles/powders (size from < 100 µm up to about 4 mm), one for larger particles such as biomass pellets (typical diameter 8 mm and length 20 mm).
• Exhaust gas monitoring with an IR analyzer on each reactor plus an additional micro-GC on the FR exhaust to cover a larger range of compounds.
• Temperature and pressur sensors throughout the system.

The control system is based on a National Instruments compact RIO controller. It is programmed using LabVIEW which enables us to execute quick changes in the control system software. It communicates with a Windows based system over network using an ethernet connection. This also enables other clients (i.e laptops, smart phones) to access the data acquired by the system. The control system currently counts 136 input channels and output channels, analogue and digital.

The SINTEF ER CLC Rig offers assessment of fuel conversion, oxygen carrier's attrition and other important characteristics of the CLC process through exhaust gas emission measurements and particle sampling during operation. Oxygen carrier particle samples can be analysed mechanically and chemically by another department at the campus. They can also contribute with some preparation of the oxygen carrier particles, especially on particle size classification.

The SINTEF ER CLC Rig is currently one of the largest existing CLC laboratory rigs. The influence of small-scale effects is less pronounced, and the results will be more relevant for scale-up to larger plants. The facility is well suited to perform tests of different oxygen carriers and with the fuel reactor operating in different fluidization modes. Both gaseous and solid fuels can be used.