Anode Supported Tubular Cell Fabrication and Performance

Abstract

The use of an anode supported design for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) allows the thickness of the electrolyte layer to be reduced to below 20 um, reducing the ohmic losses in the electrolyte layer and allowing operation at temperatures of 700-800ºC. This work was based on cells with a NiO-8YSZ anode, 8YSZ electrolyte and a LSM cathode for intermediate temperature SOFCs. The cells were typically ≈0.7 cm in diameter with an active area of ≈34 cm2. Engineering problems with manufacturing of anode tubes, sealing cells in the hot zone and current collection were solved. Several design and manufacturing changes were made to improve the performance of the cells. This gave a peak performance to date of 0.18 W cm-2 at 750ºC on dry hydrogen. The methodology for performance improvement will be presented. Balance of plant and cell monitoring for a small stack will also be discussed.