Development of a Novel Efficient Solid-Oxide Hybrid for Co-generation of Hydrogen and Electricity Using Nearby Resources for Local Application
Developing safe, reliable, cost-effective, and efficient hydrogen-electricity co-generation systems is an important step in the quest for national energy security and minimized reliance on foreign oil. This project aimed to, through materials research, develop a cost-effective advanced technology cogenerating hydrogen and electricity directly from distributed natural gas and/or coal-derived fuels. This advanced technology was built upon a novel hybrid module composed of solid-oxide fuel-assisted electrolysis cells (SOFECs) and solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), both of which were in planar, anode-supported designs. A SOFEC is an electrochemical device, in which an oxidizable fuel and steam are fed to the anode and cathode, respectively. Steam on the cathode is split into oxygen ions that are transported through an oxygen ion-conducting electrolyte (i.e. YSZ) to oxidize the anode fuel. The dissociated hydrogen and residual steam are exhausted from the SOFEC cathode and then separated by condensation of the steam to produce pure hydrogen. The rationale was that in such an approach fuel provides a chemical potential replacing the external power conventionally used to drive electrolysis cells (i.e. solid oxide electrolysis cells). A SOFC is similar to the SOFEC by replacing cathode steam with air for power generation. To fulfill the cogeneration objective, a hybrid module comprising reversible SOFEC stacks and SOFC stacks was designed that planar SOFECs and SOFCs were manifolded in such a way that the anodes of both the SOFCs and the SOFECs were fed the same fuel, (i.e. natural gas or coal-derived fuel). Hydrogen was produced by SOFECs and electricity was generated by SOFCs within the same hybrid system. A stand-alone 5 kW system comprising three SOFEC-SOFC hybrid modules and three dedicated SOFC stacks, balance-of-plant components (including a tailgas-fired steam generator and tailgas-fired process heaters), and electronic controls was designed, though an overall integrated system assembly was not completed because of limited resources. An inexpensive metallic interconnects fabrication process was developed in-house. BOP components were fabricated and evaluated under the forecasted operating conditions. Proof-of-concept demonstration of cogenerating hydrogen and electricity was performed, and demonstrated SOFEC operational stability over 360 hours with no significant degradation. Cost analysis was performed for providing an economic assessment of the cost of hydrogen production using the targeted hybrid technology, and for guiding future research and development.
- Research Organization:
- Materials and Systems Research, Inc. (MSRI), Salt Lake City, UT
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and Infrastructure Technologies Program (EE-2H)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG36-05GO15194
- OSTI ID:
- 1009453
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/GO/15194; TRN: US201117%%539
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Overview of High-Temperature Electrolysis for Hydrogen Production
Tubular, proton-conducting, ceramic reversible fuel cell for high-performance energy storage - Final Scientific Technical Report
Related Subjects
ANODES
CATHODES
COGENERATION
ECONOMICS
ELECTRICITY
ELECTROLYSIS
ELECTROLYTES
FUEL CELLS
HEATERS
HYBRID SYSTEMS
HYDROGEN
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
NATURAL GAS
OXIDES
OXYGEN
OXYGEN IONS
POWER GENERATION
SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS
STEAM
STEAM GENERATORS
solid oxide fuel-assisted electrolysis cell
solid oxide fuel cell
solid oxide electrolysis cell
hydrogen production
power generation
cogeneration