Development of suitable CuO-based materials supported on Al2O3, MgAl2O4 and ZrO2 for Ca/Cu H2 production process

Abstract

Functional materials for the sorption enhanced reforming process for H2 production coupled to a Cu/CuO chemical loop have been synthesized. The performance of CuObased materials supported on Al2O3, MgAl2O4 and ZrO2 and synthesized by different routes has been analyzed. Highly stable materials supported on Al2O3 or MgAl2O4 synthesized by co-precipitation and mechanical mixing with sufficient Cu loads (around 65 %wt.) have been successfully developed. However, it has been found that coprecipitation under these conditions is not a suitable route for ZrO2. Spray-drying and deposition precipitation did not provide the best chemical features to the materials. As the Ca/Cu process is operated in fixed bed reactors, the best candidates were pelletized and their stability was again assessed. Pellets with high chemical and mechanical stability, high oxygen transport capacity and good mechanical properties have been finally obtained by co-precipitation. The good homogeneity that provides this route would allow an easy scaling up. ; This work acknowledges the support by European Union Seventh Frame Programme FP7 under grant agreement n° 608512 (ASCENT Project). Laura Díez acknowledges the FPI fellowship (ENE 2012-37936-CO2-01, BES-2013-064616 financed by MINECO). ; Peer reviewed