In this work, the suitability of two raw meals from cement manufacture was evaluated for use as CO2 sorbents. The evolution of their CO2 carrying capacity for the initial cycles was determined as a function of calcination conditions, and the Random Pore Model was applied to determine the kinetic parameters of the materials for carbonation. It was observed that the CO2 carrying capacity of the materials was totally dependent on reaction surface, which varies significantly with the calcination conditions (in terms of temperature and partial pressure of CO2). The presence of species other than CaO affected material sorption capacity but had no bearing on reaction kinetics.The calcined raw meal was able to reach maximum conversion in the short reaction times typical of entrained flow reactors, and the dependence of the critical CaCO3 product layer formed on CaO with reaction temperature was estimated. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.