The stability of tubular metal supported SOFC has been studied as a function of current load, thermal cycles and interconnect-sealing concepts. Long term testing under applied current at 800ºC have been performed over 1000 hours on standard cells. Thermal cycles have been proven intensely (250 cycles) during over 700 hours. Major cause for degradation has been identified in terms of the anode interconnect-sealing design, which involves specific handling and machining of tubes and generation of initial submicron cracks. Cell microstructure seems stable after 1000 hours testing at 300 mA/cm2 and 800ºC.
Tubular metal supported SOFC technology has successfully been developed over the past years with the aim at domestic CHP systems below 3 kWe. The basic cell structure consists of a metal porous support, a protective barrier layer, an anode and an electrolyte cofired at 1350ºC. Cathode and contacting layers are subsequently sintered at lower temperatures. Latest achievements include average cell performances of 400 mW/cm2 at 0.7 V and 800ºC, over 350 thermal cycles and more than 1500 hours of steady operation. Several stack concepts are currently being tested and BoP components such as fuel processing, power electronics and control system developed in parallel to achieve a successful micro-CHP proof of concept by the end of 2010.
Tubular metal supported SOFC technology has successfully been developed over the past years with the aim at domestic CHP systems below 3 kWe. The basic cell structure consists of a metal porous support, a protective barrier layer, an anode and an electrolyte cofired at 1350ºC. Cathode and contacting layers are subsequently sintered at lower temperatures. The most significant results to date include successful thermal cycling of the cell and anodic connection during 450 cycles and 2000 hours, oxidation testing of the metal support for more than 2500 hours and a comparison of influence of porosity during 100 hours oxidation of metal porous substrates under high water vapour atmospheres.
Crofer can be considered as the reference interconnect material in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) working under 800°C. Thanks to its thermal expansion coefficient, it is suitable to replace ceramic components, such as the interconnect and the metal support, and it can be cost effective. Several research groups, including Ikerlan, have used porous substrates with the same composition as Crofer (PM from H.C. Starck GmbH, Goslar, Germany) as the metal support for their SOFC cells. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of certain variables (time, temperature, vapor content, cycling, porosity, and current flow), while other aspects are constant (sample composition and particle size and shape).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.