Fuel cells – Molten carbonate fuel cell | Cells and stacks

Abstract

The molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) operates at temperatures around 600–650°C and uses an electrolyte of molten alkali metal carbonate mixture retained in a porous ceramic support matrix layer. Porous sheets of Ni-based materials are used as electrodes. Stacks of various configurations had been evaluated at hundreds of kilowatt scale. The current commercial MCFC stack is based on internal reforming external manifold design. Systems of multi-MW scale have been being deployed. This article discusses status for MCFC cells and stack designs (electrodes, electrolyte, matrix, catalyst, cell hardware, and stack configuration).