Bimetallic Fe-Ni Oxygen Carriers for Chemical Looping Combustion

The relative abundance, low cost, and low toxicity of iron make Fe-based oxygen carriers of great interest for chemical looping combustion (CLC), an emerging technology for clean and efficient combustion of fossil and renewable fuels. However, Fe also shows much lower reactivity than other metals (such as Ni and Cu). Here, we demonstrate strong improvement of Fe-based carriers by alloying the metal phase with Ni. Through a combination of carrier synthesis and characterization with thermogravimetric and fixed-bed reactor studies, we demonstrate that the addition of Ni results in a significant enhancement in activity as well as an increase in selectivity for total oxidation. Furthermore, comparing alumina and ceria as support materials highlights the fact that reducible supports can result in a strong increase in oxygen carrier utilization.