Effect of Steam on Carbonation of CaO in Ca-Looping

Ca-looping is an effective way to capture CO₂ from coal-fired power plants. However, there are still issues that require further study. One of these issues is the effect of steam on the Ca-looping process. In this paper, a self-madethermogravimetric analyzer that can achieve rapid heating and cooling is used to measure the change of sample weight under constant temperature conditions. The parameters of the Ca-looping are studied in detail, including the addition of water vapor alone in the calcination or carbonation stage and the calcination/carbonation reaction temperatures for both calcination and carbonation stages with water vapor. Steam has a positive overall effect on CO₂ capture in the Ca-looping process. When steam is present in both calcination and carbonation processes, it increases the decomposition rate of CaCO₃ and enhances the subsequent carbonation conversion of CaO. However, when steam was present only in the calcination process, there was lower CaO carbonation conversion in the following carbonation process. In contrast, when steam was present in the carbonation stage, CO₂ capture was improved. Sample characterizations after the reaction showed that although water vapor had a negative effect on the pore structure, adding water vapor increased the diffusion coefficient of CO₂ and the carbonation conversion rate of CaO.