Cu-Based Praseodymium-Modified γ-Al2O3 Oxygen Carrier for Chemical Looping Combustion Process Optimization

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) emerges as a cost-effective CO2 capture technology, demonstrating high competitiveness for both industrial and energy applications. This study explores the synthesis of a Cu-based, praseodymium (Pr)-modified gamma-alumina-supported (20CuPA) oxygen carrier (OC) through the wet impregnation method and investigates its performance in CLC. The characteristics of the synthesized OC were investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, temperature-programmed reduction analysis, and X-ray diffraction analysis. The CLC of methane gas was performed in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TA-Q50). The oxygen transport capacity (OTC) of the 20CuPA-based OC was investigated for 10 redox cycles. The impact of temperature and time as process variables in determining the OTC of OCs was studied. The TGA results indicated that the most important factor influencing the optimization of the OTC of OCs was time. In comparison to time, temperature had less of an impact on the OTC of 20CuPA-OC. The maximum OTC of 20CuPA-OC, which was 0.0546 mg of O2/mg of OC, was reached using optimized process variables, including a temperature of 800 °C and a time of 3 min.