The Characteristics of Cermet-Supported Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Manufactured by Thermal Spraying

Abstract

Tubular solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with cells in series assembled on a porous cermet-support tube with self-sealing were designed for easy manufacturing by thermal spraying. Such design has distinct features of high power output, good thermal matching of support tube with different functional layers, and low ohmic loss from two electrode leaders. Tubular SOFCs with different numbers of cells (6, 10, and 20) in series were manufactured on the flame-sprayed NiCr-Al2O3 support tube with an insulating interlayer, YSZ electrolyte, Ni-YSZ anode, and La0.8Sr0.2MnO3-based cathode. All components in the tubular SOFC were produced by thermal spray processes. The performance test showed that tubular SOFC presented an open circuit voltage and maximum output power being proportional to numbers of cells in series. For tubular SOFC with 10 cells with a total length of 200 mm, the test yielded a peak power output over 20 W at 800 °C with a maximum power density over 200 mW/cm2. Moreover, it was also found that the tubular SOFC with 20 cells presented a comparable peak powder density. Therefore, it is clearly demonstrated that the cermet-supported tubular design is suitable for thermal spraying manufacturing with a high output performance.