The effect of sintering on the maximum capture efficiency of CO2 using a carbonation/calcination cycle of carbonate rocks

The effect of sintering on the maximum capture efficiency of CO2 is studied, using a carbonation/calcination cycle for a series of samples with different stoichiometries of dolomite and calcite. For the materials that belong to the categories of limestone and dolomitic limestone, sintering decreases the extent of carbonation significantly at the two different highest temperatures studied. The extent of carbonation for the same maximum heating temperature depends mainly on the percentage of dolomite. Sintering is negligible in the dolomitic rocks, especially at the maximum heating temperature of 1005°C. The composition of the carrier gas does not seem to play a significant role. The reduction of the extent of carbonation at the second heating /cooling cycle in limestone, and the durability after enough successive cycles of calcination/carbonation in the dolomitic rocks, does not seem to be affected by the maximum temperatures of calcination that were used at the experiments.