Process and apparatus for chemical looping redox combustion with control of the heat exchanges

A process for chemical looping oxidation-reduction combustion of a hydrocarbon feed wherein a redox active mass in form of particles circulates between an oxidation zone and a reduction zone so as to form a circuit, wherein:

• combustion of said hydrocarbon feed is carried out by contacting with the redox active mass particles in the reduction zone,
• the redox active mass particles from the reduction zone are oxidized by contacting with an oxidizing gas stream in the oxidation zone,
• the particles are sent to at least one heat exchanger positioned on a particle transport line between the reduction zone and the oxidation zone, and a fluidization gas is sent into said exchanger so as to create a dense fluidized bed comprising the active mass particles, said heat exchanger comprising a heat exchange surface in contact with the fluidized bed,
• the heat recovery is controlled in said at least one heat exchanger by varying the fluidized bed level through controlled application of a pressure drop on a fluidization gas outlet positioned in an upper part of the heat exchanger,
• wherein the active mass particles are sent to a reservoir zone provided upstream from the heat exchanger, the reservoir zone and the heat exchanger being contained in a single assembly,
• the pressure drop applied in the heat exchanger is compensated by a level variation of an active mass particle bed in the reservoir zone communicating with the fluidized bed of the heat exchanger.