Degradation study of a novel polymorphic sorbent under realistic post-combustion conditions

Calcium looping is a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology which has the potential to be applied to both power generation plants and some industrial emission sources. The main problem with the use of calcium oxide-based sorbents is their characteristic decay in carrying capacity. This is caused by sintering and is made worse during multiple cycles of CO2 absorption (carbonation) and release (calcination). This paper provides an investigation into the degradation of a novel type of sorbent that is able to regenerate porosity during the temperature cycling of calcium looping. The porosity regeneration of this sorbent is a result of a dicalcium silicate additive undergoing a reliable phase change (α′ ↔ β), which consequently has a useful volume change associated with it. The sorbent here, has been tested for the first time under reasonably realistic conditions within a TGA for multiple cycles. The results demonstrated that the sorbent displays the characteristic decline in carrying capacity when calcined in the presence of CO2, but not when calcined in the absence of CO2 in the fluidising gas. This paper also presents an improved method to conduct TGA carrying capacity measurements of CO2 sorbents which minimises the over carbonation between cycles.