In the CLC-process the combustion chamber of a power plant is substituted by two interconnected fluidized bed reactors. In the first fluidized bed reactor the fuel reacts with a solid oxygen carrier (e.g. metal oxide). The chemically reduced oxygen carrier is re-oxidized in a second fluidized bed reactor with air. Employing this technology, it is possible to achieve an almost pure stream of CO2 – after water condensation – as off gas from the fuel reactor. This results in the significant advantage of an inherent CO2 separation.

At the SPE chemical-looping combustion of coal is experimentally investigated in a pilot-scale coupled fluidized bed system. The fluid-mechanical behavior of the system is studied in a cold-model. Reaction kinetics are measured in a laboratory scale fluidized bed reactor. Furthermore, the process is modeled under consideration of reactions attrition and particle size distribution.