Author(s): Rivero, Mayra Alvarez ; Rodrigues, Diogo ; Pinheiro, Carla I.C. ; Cardoso, João P. ; Mendes, Luís Filipe
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/3864
Origin: Repositório do LNEG
Subject(s): Solar energy; Concentrated solar power; Energy storage; Thermochemical processes; Heat transfer; Heat integration; Calcium Looping
ABSTRACT: The calcium looping process, based on the reversible calcination-carbonation reaction cycle of CaCO3-CaO, is an emerging and promising technology for thermochemical energy storage in concentrating solar power plants. In this process, concentrated solar energy is used to carry out the endothermic solar-driven calcination of CaCO3 with formation of CaO and CO2 as products in a solid-gas reactor. In this review, a number of experimental studies of solid-gas reactors driven by concentrated solar energy are discussed, with a particular focus on solar reactors for calcination of CaCO3 or with that potential application. The solid-gas reactors for solar-driven calcination of CaCO3 reported in the literature achieved a total efficiency of 16.6%-88% for a mass flow rate up to 25 kg h(-1) and a power up to 55 kW. Also, a detailed comparison of the different types of solid-gas reactors driven by concentrated solar energy is provided by outlining their advantages and disadvantages according to several relevant criteria. This review is intended to be a valuable tool for the selection of a reactor configuration for future studies related to solar-driven calcination of CaCO3.
