Advanced test set-up for long-term testing of anode supported SOFC stacks

• Research unit: SFOE
• Project number: 101936

Key words (German)

TP0076;F-Brennstoffzellen

Short description (German)

Advanced test set-up for long-term testing of anode supported SOFC stacks

Publications / Results (English)

Anode supported SOFC stack have the potential of achieving lower degradation rates than stack with electrolyte supported cells, as they operate at more moderate temperature ranges (700-800°C as compared to 950°C), reducing mainly corrosion effects. Within the EU project Real-SOFC, extensive research has been undertaken to reduce materials degradation, i.e. using better cathode materials and metal coatings. On the materials level, progress was be demonstrated on the cell level for tests lasting up to 3’000 hours. On the stack level however, extensive testing within Real-SOFC showed that stack failed typically before 2500 hrs. Failures causes were identified to be in the major parts due to the inherent fragility of the anode supported cells towards the exposure to re-oxidising conditions. This exposure is inherent in the stack design currently used (R-design), having an open psot-combustion zone. To move forward on materials evaluation, therefore a design change is required, moving to a stack design recovering exhaust gases. This kind of design was developed jointly between HTc and EPFL and will become the new reference for the Real-SOFC materials test evaluation. It should allow achieving common test duration of well above 3’000 hrs and enable the project measuring effectively the progress on the materials level. Within the first month of this projct, a prototype set-up has been realised and will be used as base for further adaptations and improvement. The next step involves an analysis of the funcionng of the actual set-up and a detailed job description for the next generation of set-up.

Auftragnehmer/Contractant/Contraente/Contractor:
HTceramix SA

Autorschaft/Auteurs/Autori/Authors:
Luzzi,A.

Related documents

• Advanced Test Set-Up for Long-Term Testing of Anode Supported SOFC Stacks - Jahresbericht 2006 [PDF] 95 kB