CO₂ utilization in chemical looping gasification and co-gasification of lignocellulosic biomass components over iron-based oxygen carriers: Thermogravimetric behavior, synergistic effect, and reduction characteristics

Efficient CO₂ utilization in the thermochemical conversion of biomass plays an important role in creating a future low-carbon economy. This study attempts to explore the CO₂-assisted chemical looping gasification and co-gasification process of lignocellulosic biomass components (hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin) with iron oxide oxygen carriers using thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis. Three different iron oxide oxygen carrier-to-biomass (O/B) ratios were taken into account to deeply understand the thermal degradation characteristics of individual components (O/B ratio: 0) and their blending with iron oxide oxygen carriers (O/B ratio: 0.5 and 1). Meanwhile, the reduction characteristics of three major biomass components were also investigated in terms of X-ray diffraction (XRD), synergistic interaction, and reduction degree. Experimental results suggest that the existence of iron oxide oxygen carriers could accelerate the reaction kinetics under the reactive CO₂ environment, arising from the competitive relationship between the direct reduction reaction by char in biomass and the Boudouard reaction at high temperatures (600–950 °C). Interestingly, the reoxidation behavior of the reduced iron oxide is observed at high temperatures, especially for lignin. Among all the tested biomass materials, their ability to reduce iron oxide oxygen carriers under the CO₂ atmosphere follows the order of biomass mixture (1:1:1 wt%)>lignin>xylan>cellulose. Moreover, the findings indicate that significant synergistic interaction exists during the CO₂-assisted chemical looping co-gasification process.