Mathematical Modeling of a Moving-Bed Reactor for Chemical Looping Combustion of Methane

Abstract A flexible first principles mathematical model of a counter-current moving-bed reactor has been developed and implemented in Pyomo as part of the Institute for the Design of Advanced Energy Systems (IDAES) process systems engineering framework. The model consists of a set of differential and algebraic equations obtained by applying the mass, energy, and pressure balances. The model is applied to the simulation of the reducer reactor for the chemical looping combustion of methane using an iron-based oxygen carrier. The effect of several system and operating parameters on the methane and oxygen carrier conversions are investigated to help assess the performance of the moving-bed reducer. The results show that nearly full methane conversion (95.75 %) can be attained in the counter-current moving-bed regime using relatively low oxygen carrier/methane mass flow ratios.