Zhao Haibo1， Jin Bo2， Qin Changlei3， Ma Jinchen1， Guo Qingjie4， Duan Lunbo5， Li Yingjie6， Liu Fang7，Song Tao8， Wang Kun9， Gao Yunfei10， Tang Hongjian5， Wang Yueming5
1.State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion， School of Energy and Power Engineering， Huazhong University of Science and Technology， Wuhan 430072， China； 2.Advanced Catalytic Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education， Joint International Center of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage， Provincial Hunan Key Laboratory for Cost-Efficient Utilization of Fossil Fuel Aimed at Reducing Carbon-dioxide Emissions， College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering， Hunan University， Changsha 410082， China； 3.School of Energy and Power Engineering， Chongqing University， Chongqing 400044， China； 4.School of Chemical Engineering， Qingdao University of Science and Technology， Qingdao 266042， China； 5.School of Energy and Environment， Southeast University， Nanjing 210096， China； 6.School of Nuclear Science and Technology， Shandong University， Jinan 250100， China； 7.School of Low-carbon Energy and Power Engineering， China University of Mining and Technology， Xuzhou 221116， China； 8.School of Energy Science and Engineering， Nanjing Normal University， Nanjing 210042， China； 9.School of Metallurgy， Northeastern University， Shenyang 110819， China； 10.School of Resources and Environmental Engineering， East China University of Science and Technology， Shanghai 200237， China
Abstract
Significance Chemical looping technology has attracted extensive research interest due to its ability to decouple fuel conversion from oxygen supply by utilizing lattice oxygen in solid oxygen carriers. Compared with conventional processes， chemical looping provides an alternative approach for improving fuel utilization， reducing carbon emissions， and facilitating CO₂ separation and utilization. In recent years， the application scope of chemical looping technology in China has expanded considerably from conventional chemical looping combustion and carbon capture to fuel conversion， hydrogen and syngas production， chemical synthesis， oxygen production， CO₂ conversion， and pollutant removal. Meanwhile， continuous advances in oxygen carriers， particle preparation， reactor design， and process integration have provided new opportunities for the development of chemical looping systems. Therefore， a systematic review of the expansion and advancement of chemical looping technology is of great significance for understanding its current development status and identifying key challenges for engineering application.
Progress For chemical looping combustion， substantial progress has been achieved in the conversion of both gaseous and solid fuels. The effects of oxygen carrier composition， structure， redox properties， and reaction conditions on fuel conversion and cyclic performance have been extensively investigated. Beyond combustion， chemical looping gasification and reforming have been developed for the production of hydrogen and syngas， in which the oxygen transfer characteristics of oxygen carriers play a critical role in regulating product distribution and process efficiency. Chemical looping approaches have also been extended to ammonia synthesis and oxidative dehydrogenation， providing new strategies for chemical production with reduced dependence on conventional oxidants and potentially lower energy consumption. In addition， chemical looping air separation has been investigated for oxygen production， while chemical looping CO₂ conversion has attracted increasing attention because of its potential for CO₂ resource utilization. Chemical looping processes have also been coupled with pollutant removal， enabling simultaneous fuel conversion and pollutant control.
Conclusions and Prospects Chemical looping technology has developed from a relatively focused concept for combustion and carbon capture into a diversified technology system covering fuel conversion， hydrogen and syngas production， chemical synthesis， oxygen production， CO₂ utilization， and pollutant control. The development of oxygen carriers and particle technologies has provided important support for these emerging applications， while reactor engineering and process integration are becoming increasingly important for further technological advancement. Nevertheless， achieving a balance between oxygen carrier reactivity， mechanical strength， and cyclic lifetime remains challenging. The mechanisms governing oxygen carrier deactivation and particle degradation under realistic operating conditions also require further investigation. In addition， reactor scale-up and continuous solid circulation remain major challenges in the engineering application of chemical looping technology. Future research should therefore focus on the coordinated optimization of oxygen carrier composition， structure， particle properties， and reaction performance， while strengthening the development of low-cost and sustainable oxygen carriers. Greater attention should also be given to reactor scale-up， long-term continuous operation， multi-process coupling， energy integration， and techno-economic assessment. Such efforts are expected to promote the transition of chemical looping technology from laboratory-scale research toward reliable and efficient industrial applications.
Keywords： chemical looping technology； chemical looping combustion； oxygen carrier； fuel conversion； system integration
Get Citation: Zhao Haibo， Jin Bo，Qin Changlei， et al. Research progress on expansion and advancement of chemical looping technology system［J］. China Powder Science and Technology， 2027， 33（1）： 64-78.
Received: 2026-09-14， Revised： 2026-09-22， Online：2026-10-12。
Funding: The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52536008，52176107 and 22478099).
DOI：10.13732/j.issn.1008-5548.2027.01.005
CLC No.: TK16；TB44
Type Code: A
Serial No.: 1008-5548（2027）01-0064-15
