Chemical Looping with Oxygen Uncoupling (CLOU) processes

Chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling (CLOU) is a variant of chemical looping combustion in which oxygen is spontaneously liberated from the oxygen carrier as gaseous O2 in the fuel reactor. This chapter provides an overview of CLOU, addresses considerations for design of reactors specific for CLOU, and presents the state of development of the CLOU process. CLOU reactor systems share many design characteristics with non-CLOU chemical looping systems and in some regards the only difference between a conventional non-CLOU reactor and a CLOU reactor is the nature of the oxygen carrier. However, the unique chemical behavior of CLOU oxygen carriers creates special challenges - and opportunities - for chemical looping reactors. The cost of CLOU oxygen carriers also needs to be reduced to make the technology competitive. New low-cost, mixed metal oxide oxygen carriers have shown promise and can help drive down the cost of CLOU technology.