Modularization strategy for syngas generation in chemical looping methane reforming systems with CO2 as feedstock

This study considers a CO₂ feedstock in conventional methane reforming processes and metal oxide lattice oxygen based chemical looping reforming. Lattice oxygen from iron‐titanium composite metal oxide provides the most efficient co‐utilization of CO₂ with CH₄. A modularization chemical looping strategy is developed to further improve process efficiencies using a thermodynamic rationale. Modularization leverages the ability of two or more reactors operating in parallel to produce a higher quality syngas than a single reactor operating alone while offering a direct solution to scale up of multiple parallel reactor processes. Experiments conducted validate the thermodynamic simulation results. Simulation and experimental results ascertain that a cocurrent moving bed in a modularization system can operate under CO₂ neutral or negative conditions. The results for a modularization process system for 7950 m³ per day (50,000 barrels per day) of liquid fuel indicate a ～23% reduction of natural gas usage over baseline‐case. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 3343–3360, 2017