Effects of Fe-Doped Electrolyte and Feed Flow Rate Evaluation in Home Made Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

Abstract

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) is one type of fuel cell that has several advantages over other types of fuel cells. To achieve low cost SOFC, the materials used are nickel oxide (NiO) for the anode, Calcia Stabilized Zirconia (SCZ) for the electrolyte and Calcia Cobalt Oxide Zinc Oxide (CCZO) as cathode. Fe2O3 is a doping agent to form a denser electrolyte. The cell with and without Fe doping was tested using hydrogen and ambient air. Additionally, the effect of the amount of fuel flow rate is also investigated using Aspen Plus Modelling. Based on physical characterization, it is determined that 3%-mole Fe doping on the electrolyte increases the electrolyte density from 83% to 90%. Using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, it can be concluded that SOFC with Fe doped electrolyte has a lower resistance than SOFC without Fe doping. On the other hand, using a correction factor, an equation of power correlated to fuel flow for the SOFC is generated to show increasing fuel flow enhanced SOFC performance.