Use of a reactor for heating a gas

Abstract

This invention discloses a reactor and methods for heating of a gas as it reacts with a solid. The reactor contains gas conducts that are empty of solids and that cross through a region packed with solids. The wall of the gas conducts has orifices to make it permeable but not selective to gases, while effectively separating the solids from the gas. In the reactor, the heat source to heat up the gas is generated by the exothermic reaction of the solids with one active component of the gas. The region packed with the reacting solids is at temperatures ranging from 500°C to 1500°C, to promote the heat transfer towards the gas and the high reactivity of the solids with the active components of the gas, that is forced to diffuse from the conduct through the orifices of the conduct wall.