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Modeling of chemical-looping combustion process of methane with nickel-based oxygen carrier

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Abstract

The chemical-looping combustion of methane in a three-dimensional cylindrical fuel reactor is numerically studied using the developed multiphase particle-in-cell reactive model, featuring the multi-phase flow, heat transfer, reduction of oxygen carriers, and particle shrinkage. After model validation, the general flow patterns, and the thermophysical properties of oxygen carriers (e.g., temperature, heat transfer coefficient) and gas phase (e.g., temperature, density, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and viscosity) are comprehensively studied with the discussion on several crucial operating parameters. The results show that bubble dynamics (e.g., generation, rising, coalescence, and eruption) induce the segregation of small- and large-mass particles. CH4 is thoroughly converted in a very short distance above the bottom distributor while CO and H2 increase above the bottom distributor and then decrease axially. The temperature of particles ranges from 1275 to 1295 K, leading to a 20 K temperature difference in the bed. The heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of particles is in the range of 50–150 W/(m2·K). Increasing the investigated operating parameters (i.e., superficial gas velocity, methane ratio, and wall temperature) enlarges the particle properties (i.e., temperature, HTC) and most of the gas properties (i.e., temperature, thermal conductivity, specific capacity, and viscosity), but decreases the gas density. The findings shed light on the reactor design and process control of the chemical-looping combustion systems.

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Abbreviations

A :

Particle acceleration (m/s2)

D g,k :

Turbulent mass diffusion coefficient (m2/s)

D s :

Drag coefficient of the solid phase (1/s)

f D :

Particle distribution function obtained by collapsing the velocity dependence

f s :

Particle distribution function

F gs :

Inter-phase momentum exchanging rate per volume (kg/(m3·s))

h g :

Enthalpy of gas mixture (J/kg)

h s :

Enthalpy of solid phase (J/kg)

ΔH rg :

Heat of chemical reactions (W/m3)

ΔH rs :

Heat of chemical reactions (W/m3)

k s :

Kinetic constant evaluated

m s :

Particle mass (kg)

Nu s :

Nusselt number

N k :

Total number of gas species

p g :

Gas pressure (Pa)

Pr :

Turbulent Prandtl number

q :

Heat flux (W/m2)

\({{\dot Q}_{\rm{D}}}\) :

Enthalpy diffusion (W/m3)

Q radi :

Radiative heat transfer (W)

Q sg :

Convective heat transfer (W)

R 0,ilm :

Oxygen transport capacity of oxygen carriers

S gs :

Gas–solid energy exchanging rate (W/m3)

S gw :

Gas–wall convective heat transfer (W/m3)

t :

Time instant (s)

T 0 :

Reference temperature (K)

T b,local :

Environmental temperature (K)

T g :

Gas temperature (K)

T P :

Particle temperature (K)

T s :

Solid temperature (K)

u g :

Gas velocity (m/s)

u s :

Solid velocity (m/s)

Y g,k :

Mass fraction of gas species i

\(\delta {{\dot m}_{\rm{s}}}\) :

Mass source term of solid phase (kg/(m3·s))

\(\delta {{\dot m}_{k,{\rm{react}}}}\) :

Mass transfer between the gas species (kg)

θ g :

Gas volume fraction

θ s :

Solid volume fraction

ε s :

Emissivity coefficient

λ g :

Gas thermal conductivity (J/(m·s·K))

λ t :

Turbulent component (J/(m·s·K))

μ t :

Gas turbulent viscosity (kg/(m·s))

π g :

Gas density (kg/m3)

π s :

Solid phase density (kg/m3)

σ :

Stefan–Boltzmann constant (W/(m2·K4))

τ g :

Gas stress tensor (Pa)

τ D :

Particle collision damping time (s)

τ s :

Particle normal stress (Pa)

g:

Gas phase

s:

Solid (particle) phase

x, y, z :

Coordinate index

3D:

Three-dimensional

AR:

Air reactor

BFB:

Bubbling fluidized bed

CCS:

CO2 capture and storage

CFB:

Circulating fluidized bed

CFD-DEM:

Computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method

CLC:

Chemical-looping combustion

EMMS:

Energy-minimization multi-scale

FR:

Fuel reactor

FVM:

Finite volume method

HTC:

Heat transfer coefficient

IGCC:

Integrated gasification combined-cycle

LES:

Large-eddy simulation

MP-PIC:

Multi-phase particle-in-cell

PISO:

Pressure implicit with splitting of operator

RANS:

Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes

SIMPLE:

Semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equations

TFM:

Two-fluid model

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the financial support from the Applied Basic Research Project of Yunnan Province, China (Grant No. 202101AT070135).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China

    Kaige Zhang, Jin Liang, Huili Liu, Guirong Bao & Hua Wang

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  1. Kaige Zhang
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  2. Jin Liang
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Correspondence to Huili Liu.

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Zhang, K., Liang, J., Liu, H. et al. Modeling of chemical-looping combustion process of methane with nickel-based oxygen carrier. Exp. Comput. Multiph. Flow 6, 180–194 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42757-023-0161-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42757-023-0161-2

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