Nickel-Based Anodes for Single-Chamber Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: A Catalytic Study
Single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are an alternative concept to traditional SOFCs. Conventional anodes, which consist of a cermet of metallic Ni and an ionic conductor, have to work under a mixture of hydrocarbon and oxygen. This paper presents a catalytic study of C 3 H 8 oxidation by Ce 0.9 Gd 0.1 O 1.95 and nickel. The influences of temperature and oxygen to propane ratio on the nickel oxidation state are clarified, thanks to catalytic tests and electrical conductivity measurements. The results show that the temperature must be higher than a critical value to maintain the nickel particles in the metallic state. Furthermore, at high temperatures, the conversion of the initial mixture leads to the water-gas-shift equilibrium.
From macro- to micro-single chamber solid oxide fuel cells
Abstract Single chamber solid oxide fuel cells (SC-SOFCs) with interdigitating electrodes were prepared and operated in CH4/air mixtures. Both electrodes (Ni-Ce0.8Gd0.2O1.9 cermet and Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3−δ perovskite) were placed on the same side of a Ce0.8Gd0.1O1.95 electrolyte disc. The separating gap between the electrodes was varied from 1.2 to 0.27 mm and finally down to 10 μm. Screen-printing was used for the preparation of the cells with a gap in the millimetre range, whereas micromolding in capillaries (MIMIC) was used for the preparation of the micro-SC-SOFCs. The prepared micro-SC-SOFCs consisted of an array of 19 individual cells that were connected in parallel having 100 μm wide electrodes. An open circuit voltage of 0.65–0.75 V was measured in flowing mixtures of methane and air. The maximum power density of 17 mW cm−2 was limited by the ohmic resistance of the long conduction paths along the thin electrodes to the active sites of the individual cells. The feasibility of the micro-cell was demonstrated by comparing the performance with the performance of the cells having feature sizes in the millimetre range. The cell resistance of micro-SC-SOFCs may be significantly reduced when connecting the cells in series using interconnections between anode and cathodes of adjacent cells.
Heat Transfer Characteristic for a New Plate Metal Hydride Reactor
The property of major metal hydride reactors in the world was analyzed and a new plate metal hydride reactor was designed.An experimental facility to test the metal hydride reactor was also designed correspondingly.The effective thermal conductivity of the plate metal hydride reactor was measured by varying the initial metal hydride packing fraction,the kind of filled gas and the pressure of the filled gas,cycle numbers.The test results show that the effective thermal conductivity of the reactor,has exceeded(7.5) W/(m·K) before activation,which is increased greatly.After alloy activation,the effective thermal conductivity of the reactor has a linear change trend with the hydrogen pressure during the interval 0.1~3.5 MPa.The effective thermal conductivity of the reactor just only decreases quickly at the beginning,but becomes stable after several cycles.