Comparing the Expected Stack Cost of Next Generation Intermediate Temperature Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cells with Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Technology

Abstract

Lowering the operating temperature of high-temperature fuel cells has historically been motivated by stack and system cost reduction and durability considerations towards making fuel cells a more attractive distributed generation technology. Protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) operating beneath 600oC have emerged as a promising technology candidate for developing power generation systems. In this paper, we present an economic manufacturing model that was developed to estimate the overall expected cost of a PCFC stack and compare the results with solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology for hydrogen and methane fuels. The costs of PCFC stacks operating on methane at 500oC (0.155 W/cm2) and 550oC (0.240 W/cm2) are estimated to be 4% to 38% lower, respectively, than SOFC stacks operating at 800oC (~0.300 W/cm2).