Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is an efficient combustion technology with inherent separation of CO2. A metal oxide is used to transport oxygen from air to the fuel, thus avoiding direct contact between fuel and air. The CLC process imposes a very low energy penalty and low CO2 capture costs. The largest CLC pilot plant worldwide with a nominal power of 1 MWth has been erected at Technische Universitat Darmstadt. This paper presents the layout of the 1 MWth pilot plant and first operational results using ilmenite and hard coal as fuel. The fuel reactor was fluidized with a mixture of air and steam, so that partial CLC operation was achieved. Conversion of coal was gradually shifted from combustion to gasification by decreasing the air ratio from 1 to 0.55 in the fuel reactor, leading to production of unconverted gases at the fuel reactor exit. The oxygen demand required for fully oxidizing the unconverted gases varied between 12 and 17. Relating the unconverted gases to the remaining 45% of the fuel that have not been oxidized by air, the oxygen demand would be in the range of 26-38%. A system for oxygen injection to fully convert the unconverted gases in the flue gas duct was proven to work successfully. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.