Air jet attrition of CaO-CuO catalyst compared with commercial VPO and

FCC

P.Asiedu-Boateng, R.Legros, G.S.Patience

Integrating calcium looping (CaL) and (CLC) circumvents the need for an air separation unit. For this application, a novel CaO-CuO catalyst is being developed for post post-combustion CO2 capture. One major consideration in commercializing this technology is managing catalyst attrition that arises due to abrasion (particle-wall contact in cyclones, for example) and particle-particle and particle wall collisions (particularly at high velocity nozzles.) In this study, the attrition resistance of CaO-CuO catalyst was measured in a jet mill and compared with those two other commercial catalyst: used vanadium phosphorus oxide (VPO) catalyst and, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst. The CaO-CuO is a novel composition expressly synthesized for post-combustion CO2 capture. Evaluating the mechanical properties of the novel catalyst is the first undertaking to assess its suitability, together with oxidation- regeneration cycles. In each test, 20 g of powder was charged to a metal cylinder. Air passed through a single 0.41 mm orifice drilled through a metal plate at velocities between 165-340 m/s for 24 h at ambient temperature. The high velocity gas impinges on the catalyst, which mimics the expected mechanical stresses at the nozzles of spargers and in the grid plate. Attrited fines are carried upward with the air through 1.7 cm long tube and collected in a thimble filter and weighed. The attrition rates of VPO and FCC at a gas velocity of 286 m/s were 3.6 mg/h and 4 mg/h respectively; it was 4.3mg/h for the CaO-CuO catalyst. These results are well within threshold attrition rate of 4 mg/h for safe and economic fluidised bed applications.