Reduction and oxidation kinetics of different phases of iron oxides

• Kinetics were derived on the different iron ore phases of γ-FeOOH, Fe2O3, and Fe3O4.
• Three-dimensional diffusion kinetic model was well fitted with experimental data.
• Magnetite (Fe3O4) phase having an insignificant aggregation is suitable for CL process.

The redox properties and kinetic parameters of three different phases of as-received iron ores such as γ-FeOOH, Fe2O3, and Fe3O4 were investigated using isothermal experiments for reduction and oxidation reaction using hydrogen and H2O, respectively, to investigate the possibility for chemical looping process to produce pure hydrogen. Among the selected kinetic equations of three different iron oxide ores for the reduction at 800 °C and oxidation in the temperature ranges 700–850 °C, three-dimensional diffusion kinetic model such as Jander equation was well fitted with the experimental redox reactions of the three different iron ores. The calculated activation energies of iron ores with a main phase of γ-FeOOH, Fe2O3, and Fe3O4, for the oxidation reaction with H2O, were found to be around 21.5, 48.9, and 11.0 kJ/mol, respectively. The smaller activation energy and larger oxidation rate were observed on the Fe3O4–phase iron ore owing to its large reduction rate and stable particle size maintenance even under high temperature redox reactions, and it is suitable for the further application to chemical looping process.