A Dual Reactor for Isothermal Thermochemical Cycles of H2O/CO2 Co-Splitting Using La0.3Sr0.7Co0.7Fe0.3O3 as an Oxygen Carrier

Catalytic performance of La0.3Sr0.7Co0.7Fe0.3O3 (LSCF3773 or LSCF) catalyst for syngas production via two step thermochemical cycles of H2O and CO2 co-splitting was investigated. Oxygen storage capacity (OSC) was found to depend on reduction temperature, rather than the oxidation temperature. The highest oxygen vacancy (Δδ) was achieved when the reduction and oxidation temperature were both fixed at 900 °C with the feed ratio (H2O to CO2) of 3 to 1, with an increasing amount of CO2 in the feed mixture. CO productivity reached its plateau at high ratios of H2O to CO2 (1:1, 1:2, and 1:2.5), while the total productivities were reduced with the same ratios. This indicated the existence of a CO2 blockage, which was the result of either high Ea of CO2 dissociation or high Ea of CO desorption, resulting in the loss in active species. From the results, it can be concluded that H2O and CO2 splitting reactions were competitive reactions. Ea of H2O and CO2 splitting was estimated at 31.01 kJ/mol and 48.05 kJ/mol, respectively, which agreed with the results obtained from the experimentation of the effect of the oxidation temperature. A dual-reactors system was applied to provide a continuous product stream, where the operation mode was switched between the reduction and oxidation step. The isothermal thermochemical cycles process, where the reduction and oxidation were performed at the same temperature, was also carried out in order to increase the overall efficiency of the process. The optimal time for the reduction and oxidation step was found to be 30 min for each step, giving total productivity of the syngas mixture at 28,000 μmol/g, approximately.