Lifetime Prediction of Anode-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cell on the Basis of Individual Components Degradation

Abstract

Long-term stability is an essential requirement for the successful commercialization of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology. In the present work, the long-term performance degradation of the anode-supported SOFC short stack is analyzed under accelerated operating conditions. The voltage degradation of the short stack was caused by the increase in ohmic and polarization resistance with time. The coarsening of Ni particles in the Ni-cermet anode was found to be the dominant degradation mechanism which decreases the anode performance gradually during the long-term operation. On the cathode side, cation surface segregation and formation of resistive phase between cathode and electrolyte were responsible for the performance degradation. Mathematical correlations were developed for the prediction of performance degradation of SOFC components and integration of single effects degradation can be used to predict the lifetime of the SOFC cell and stack.