Chemical Looping Beyond Combustion

This chapter describes several applications where the concept of chemical looping can be applied beyond combustion of fossil fuels. Chemical looping combustion has been demonstrated to be a promising approach for carbon capture with low energy penalty. The chemical looping concept can be further extended to many other applications beyond combustion by exploiting its inherent characteristic of leading to separation of desired products. For example, the technology can be applied to air separation with little energy consumption; via selective partial oxidization of fuels and use of appropriate oxygen carriers, the generation of synthesis gas can be achieved; and when the oxidizing agent is changed from commonly used air to steam or CO2, hydrogen or CO can be produced in the oxidizer with high purity. In addition, some value-added products such as alkene and aromatics can also be produced with some potential advantages such as higher yield and purity when compared to the conventional methods. This chapter introduces various applications of chemical looping beyond combustion technology as well as their potential benefits and pitfalls.