Abstract
In this article, we review and clarify some of the points made by
previous authors
regarding chemical looping combustion (CLC). While much
of the recent interest in chemical looping combustion has been
associated with carbon sequestration, our primary interest here
is its potential to increase the thermodynamic efficiency of converting
fuel chemical energy into useful work. We expand on several points
about the details of CLC that we feel have
not previously been sufficiently explored, and suggest alternative (and possibly
more practical) approaches that exploit some of the same thermodynamic
concepts. We illustrate our key points with {First} and {Second} Law analyses
of ideal conceptual processes, which in addition to {CLC}
also include isothermal, non-equilibrium,
preheated combustion and combustion with thermochemical recuperation.
Our results suggest that a significant portion of the potential
efficiency benefit of CLC might be achieved without the need
to handle and transport large quantities of solid oxygen storage
material. Exploitation of this fact may lead to higher efficiency
approaches for power generation from hydrocarbon fuels combustion.
