(321f) Calcium Looping Process (CLP) for Enhanced Hydrocarbon Reforming

Increasing energy needs have encouraged the development of alternate sources of energy, but fossil fuels are likely to continue to play an important role in satisfying this demand in the near future. The Calcium Looping Process (CLP) is being developed at The Ohio State University (OSU) to enable clean conversion of hydrocarbons to hydrogen, which can have potential applications in electricity generation, liquid fuels production or chemical synthesis.

The presence of a calcium-based sorbent along with the traditional reforming catalyst minimizes the equilibrium limitation of the reforming and water gas shift (WGS) reactions enabling the production of high-purity H2 with in-situ CO2 capture and sulfur removal in a single step at high temperatures. The CO2 capture by the sorbent enhances the reforming and WGS reactions thus improving the yield of H2. The integration of several unit operations in a single reactor reduces the overall process foot print of the hydrogen production process.

The CLP process has been studied in a laboratory-scale setup and various parameters like temperature, pressure and steam requirements have been investigated with respect to hydrogen purity and impurities removal. High temperature and high pressure hydration of the calcium sorbent to maintain its reactivity over multiple cycles has also been investigated and the effect of different calcination (sorbent regeneration) conditions on multicyclic operation has been tested. These tests have shown that high purity hydrogen production is possible at lower temperatures and lower steam to carbon ratios as compared to conventional reforming reaction. Preliminary attempts at using sorbent hydration for multicyclic runs have yielded encouraging results.