Regeneration of sintered limestone sorbents for the sequestration of CO<SUB>2</SUB> from combustion and other systems

AbstractThe capacity of particles of CaO, produced by calcining limestone, to reactively absorb CO2, degrades with the number of cycles of carbonation and calcination. A novel method of reactivating the stone in humid, ambient air is described. Typically, a calcined limestone has a carrying capacity for CO2 which falls from ∼79% (on the basis of moles of CO2 per mole of CaO) to only about 20–30% after 30 cycles of regeneration and reuse. This new technique enables the carrying capacity to be restored to ∼55%, thereby improving the economics of sequestrating CO2 using a calcium-based sorbent.Keywords: CO2 SEQUESTRATIONCOALREGENERATION OF LIMESTONESCALCIUM LOOPING