TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Process: Heat content of the gas product is used for heating air in the regenerative heat exchanger. Some of the hot CaSO4 is discharged after separation of hot CaSO4 and waste gas. When the gas product is carbon dioxide (CO2), the process includes heating water in a heat exchange unit using the heat content of hot CaSO4 to produce a flow of steam. When the gas product is a carbon monoxide (CO)-rich syngas, the process includes, in a second chemical process loop, reacting CO of the syngas with gaseous water (H2O) to produce hydrogen (H2) and CO2 in a water-gas shift reactor, capturing CO2 with calcium oxide (CaO) in an exothermic reaction to form hot calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the shift reactor, calcining the hot CaCO3 to produce CO2 and CaO using the heat content of hot CaCO3 in a calciner, providing the CaO from the calciner to the shift reactor for use in capturing CO2, heating H2O in a heat exchange unit using the heat content of hot CaCO3 to produce a flow of steam, compressing the H2 produced by the shift reactor, providing some of the CaO from the calciner to the reducer reactor, and circulating a particulate heat-transfer material between the calciner and the oxidizer reactor.When a carbonaceous fuel is used in the reaction of CO with gaseous H2O in the shift reactor to produce H2 and CO2, the process includes providing hot carbonaceous particulates resulting from the reaction in the shift reactor to the reducer reactor. The hot carbonaceous particulates from the shift reactor include heavies and lights, and the process includes providing the heavies to the reducer reactor, and separating the lights from the H2 before providing the lights to the reducer reactor. Heating in the regenerative heat exchanger is performed using heat content of H2. H2 is compressed after using it in the regenerative heat exchanger. Water may be heated in a heat exchange unit using the heat content of H2 to produce a flow of steam. The hot carbonaceous particulates from the shift reactor are partially decarbonized in each of char gasifier, char combustor and carbon burn-out cell using hot CaSO4. Gases from the carbon burn-out cell are provided to the char combustor, gases from the char combustor are provided to the char gasifier, and gases from the char gasifier are provided to the shift reactor.Heated air from the regenerative heat exchanger is provided to the carbon burn-out cell. Air and CaS may be combusted in a combustor to produce hot sorbent particles, and the hot sorbent particles are provided to a calciner vessel. The heat content of sorbent particles is used in calcining CaCO3 in the calciner vessel. The hot sorbent particles entrained in a flue gas are discharged from the combustor enter a settling chamber where hot heavy sorbent particles fall out the flue gas and enter the calciner, and the flue gas and entrained light sorbent particles are discharged to a first separator where the fine sorbent particles are separated from the flue gas. CaO and CO2 produced by calcining CaCO3 are discharged from the calciner vessel to a second separator. CO2 is discharged through a bypass line, with a bypass valve controlling the CO2 flow distribution between the separator and bypass line, thus, limiting an exit velocity of CO2 to the separator to prevent entrainment of heavy sorbent particles in the exiting CO2. The separator discharges the CaO to the shift reactor.A portion of CaO from the calciner may be entrained in a flow of gas, and the CaO may be directed against an impact surface to mechanically break CaO particles. H2O may be provided to assist in mechanically breaking the CaO particles.