Limestone Calcination Kinetics in Microfluidized Bed Thermogravimetric Analysis (MFB-TGA) for Calcium Looping

Limestone calcination is an important part of calcium looping (CaL) technology and is critical to the design and operation optimization of fluidized bed reactors. However, obtaining a method of measuring the fast calcination kinetics in a fluidizing environment with isothermal conditions is still a challenge in the field of calcium looping. We address this challenge in this work and develop a new method of obtaining limestone calcination kinetics by injecting limestone particles into the hot fluidizing sands in a microfluidized bed thermogravimetric analysis (MFB-TGA) with a mass measurement resolution of 1 mg. The calcination characteristics of limestone are investigated at different particle sizes (150–1250 μm), temperatures (750–920 °C), and CO2 concentrations (0–30 vol.%). The experimental data measured from MFB-TGA were analyzed using a detailed model including surface reaction and intraparticle and external diffusion. The results show that the kinetics of limestone calcination measured by MFB-TGA are faster than those measured via regular TGA. This particle-injecting method of MFB-TGA provides a new experimental idea for measuring fast calcination kinetics occurring inside fluidized bed reactors and provides guidance on the application of CaL technology.