Design, Construction, and

Commissioning of a Pilot-Scale Dual

Fluidized Bed System for CO2 Capture

5th IEA-GHG Network Meeting – September 2013

Robert Symonds*, Dennis Lu, and Scott Champagne

CanmetENERGY – Natural Resources Canada

Presentation Overview

 Bench-scale research
 Pilot-scale activities
 Current status of operating pilot-plants
 CanmetENERGY 0.1MWth facility
 Experimental setup
 Operating conditions
 Current research programs
 Future pilot-scale activities
Bench-scale Research

 The FBC&G group at

CanmetENERGY have been
researching calcium looping
technologies for CO2 capture for
over a decade now.
 The focus has been on pre-
treatment and reactivation
techniques to improve sorbent
performance:
 Deep thermal sintering
 Hydration
 Pelletization
 Steam enhancement
 Doping (organic acids / halogens)
Calcium Looping Pilot Plants – Status
 Several pilot-scale facilities are now on-line ranging from 0.1 to 1.7Mth
 Includes pilot plants at CanmetENERGY, INCAR-CSIC, IFK, Darmstadt (EST),
LaPereda, etc.
 Facilities are operated under varying conditions:
 CFB versus BFB
 Different heat sources (electric heaters, solid fuels, ect.)
 With and without flue gas recycle
 Carbonation using real versus synthetic flue gas
 Different methods of solids looping control
 Ranging solids residence times and Ca to CO2 ratios
 Wide range of sorbents and particle sizes
 Etc.
 CanmetENERGY objective – “Design a pilot-scale facility that is
capable of operating over a wide range of conditions and
configurations”
CanmetENERGY 0.1MWth CaL Facility
 Originally commissioned in 2006, with
first continuous CO2 capture
experiments in 2007.
 Several issues related to continuous
operation:
 Difficult to control solids transfer between
reactors
 Gas bypass between reactors
 Transfer from calciner to carbonator only via
overflow
 System re-designed to overcome
issues and improve flexibility.
 Designed and constructed in early
2012, with commissioning trials
completed in Aug/Sept 2012.
 Various experimental tests programs
since Fall 2012.
CanmetENERGY 0.1MWth CaL Facility
 Solids Loading
Vent
(>90% CO2)

Flare
RECYCLE GAS COOLER FLUE GAS COOLER
/ CONDENSER / CONDENSER
Vent FLUE GAS
CFBC SOLIDS CONDENSATE KO
RECYCLE GAS CYCLONE TRANSFER BFB
CONDENSATE KO LINE CYCLONE
Water CYCLONE
Water

CFBC FUEL HOPPER

Air

Air
Key Features

Solids Loading 1 Calciner

CFBC SORBENT HOPPER
(LIMESTONE / DOLOMITE / PELLETS)

CFBC CROSS
2 Carbonator
CONVEYER Bottled Gases

Air

BFB to CFBC TRANSFER

CONVEYER
Steam

3 Feed Hoppers
Air B
CONE VALVE

A
4 Recycle Loop
Solids Loading
SOLIDS DISCHARGE TRANSFER
CONVEYER

LOOP SEAL

5 Solids Transfer
C

Bottled Gases

Air/O2
RECYCLE BLOWER
Steam

Air D
EDUCTOR E
 5

Calciner
 (1) Fuel delivery 6
 Water cooled screw
 Coal, coke, biomass
 (2) Feed gases
 Air, O2, recycle flue, mixed gases, steam, etc.
 (3) Solids transfer
 Overflow / loop seal to eductor 3
 Transfer conveyor
1
 (4) Solids discharger
 (5) Gas analysis
 O2, CO2, CO, SO2, NOx
7
 (6) Electric heaters
 16 x 2.5kW
3
 (7) Temperature / pressure ports 2
4
 x11
 4
Carbonator
 (1) Feed gases 6
 Air, simulated flue gas, simulated
syngas, mixed gases, steam, etc.
 (2) Solids transfer
 Overflow to transfer conveyor 2
 From eductor transfer cyclone 5
 (3) Solids discharger
 Transfer auger
 (4) Gas analysis
 O2, CO2, CO, SO2
 (5) Electric heaters
 10 x 2.5kW 2
 (6) Temperature / pressure ports 1
 x9 3
 3

NG Burner / Combustor
 (1) Feed gases
 Air, simulated flue gas, simulated 4
syngas, mixed gases, steam, etc.
 (2) NG burner 2
 NG and air mixture
 Includes flame scanner, ignitor, and
view port 5
 (3) Flue gas
 Pumped to carbonator
 (4) Moisture analyzer
 0-100% H2O
 (5) Fuel delivery
 Water cooled screw
6 1
 Coal, coke, biomass
 (6) Temperature / pressure ports
 x2
 CanmetENERGY 0.1MWth CaL Facility
Technical Data & Operating Conditions
 Calciner  Carbonator
 Temperature – 850 to 920oC  Temperature – 550 to 700oC
 Pressure – atmospheric  Pressure – atmospheric
 ID = 0.1 m  ID = 0.1 m
 H = ~5.1 m  H = ~3.0 m
 SV = 0.5 to 4 m/s  SV = 0.5 to 2 m/s
 Fuel feed rate = 2 to 10 kg/h  Particle size range = 100 to 850 micron
 Particle size range = 100 to 850 micron  STR = 20 to 50 kg/h
 Operation  Ca to CO2 ratio = 8 to 25
 Full oxy-fuel operation with flue gas  Operation
recycle (both wet and dry)  Continuous CO2 capture using a variety
 Concentrated CO2 flue gas stream of up of calcium based sorbents
to >90%  Capable of CO2 capture efficiencies
 Flexibility to run a variety of fuels and >90%
feed gases including steam  Flexibility to operate with different feed
 Solids transfer via overflow or loop seal gases (real or synthetic flue gas,
 CFB or BFB syngas, steam)
CanmetENERGY 0.1MWth CaL Facility
Current Research Activities
 System commissioning – Natural limestone
 Verified suitable oxy-fuel operating conditions (>90% CO2) are achievable
 Determined optimum solids transfer conditions:
 Controllable transfer rate
 No gas bypass between reactors
 Flexibility to transfer solids via overflow and loop seal allowing for the utilization of
larger sorbent PSD
 Continuous CO2 capture for extended duration:
 Varied carbonation temperature and solids inventory to achieve desired capture
efficiency
 Modified sorbent testing
 Goal: Take sorbents with promising characteristics (improved cyclic stability,
modified morphology, attrition resistance, etc.) at the bench-scale and test
them at the pilot scale:
 Pelletized materials
 Reactivated sorbents through modified hydration/dehydration techniques
CanmetENERGY 0.1MWth CaL Facility
Current Pilot-Scale Activities

 Steam addition during carbonation and calcination

 Previous experimentation performed by CanmetENERGY, at both the
bench-scale and pilot-scale, has shown considerable CO2 capture
improvements via the addition of steam.
 Steam addition during calcination also improves sorbent performance at the
bench-scale
 By adding steam to the calciner, it is also possible to lower the calcination
temperature (reduced sintering – a major factor in sorbent deactivation)
 Design, fabrication, and commissioning of a BFB combustor
 Allow for the generation of real flue gas
 Initially using natural gas and eventually capable of burning solid fuels
 Examine the impact of impurities (SO2, halogens, ect.) on sorbent performance
 Verify the impact of steam on CO2 capture enhancement
CanmetENERGY 0.1MWth CaL Facility
Future Pilot-Scale Activities
O2-Depleted
H2 CO2
Air
CaCO3/CuO

Fuel

Regenerator
Air
Gasifier


Reactor
Chemical Looping Steam

 Using a metal oxide, such as CaCO3/Cu

Cu/CuO as an oxygen carrier H2 / CH4 /

Biomass
 Modify the existing calcium looping Ash
Air

pilot-plant to facilitate an air reactor CaO/Cu


O2-Depleted
Several reactor configurations are H2 Air
MgCO3/CuO
CO2

Syngas
possible
 Also, possible sorbent preparation Fuel

Regenerator
Carbonator
techniques could be employed to Gasifier
Air
Reactor

combine both CO2 and O2 carriers. Steam

MgCO3/Cu H2 / CH4 /
MgO/Cu Biomass
Air
Ash

MgO/Cu/CuO
Acknowledgements

 Funding for this work was provided by Natural Resources

Canada through the Program of Energy Research and
Development (OERD).
Questions?