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Title: Study of scale formation on AISI 316L in simulated solid oxide fuel cell bi-polar environments

Conference ·
OSTI ID:895371

Significant progress made towards reducing the operating temperature of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) from {approx}1000 C to {approx}600 C is expected to permit the use of metallic materials with substantial cost reduction. One of the components in a SOFC stack to be made of metallic materials is a bipolar separator, also called an interconnect. It provides electrical connection between individual cells and serves as a gas separator to prevent mixing of the fuel and air. At operating temperature, the material selected for interconnects should possess good chemical and mechanical stability in complex fuel and oxidant gaseous environments, good electrical conductivity, and a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) that matches that of the cathode, anode, and electrolyte components. Cr2O3 scale-forming alloys appear to be the most promising candidates. There appears to be a mechanism whereby the environment on the fuel side of a stainless steel interconnect changes the corrosion behavior of the metal on the air side. The corrosion behavior of 316L stainless steel simultaneously exposed to air on one side and H2+3%H2O on the other at 907 K was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. The electrical property of the investigated material was determined in terms of area-specific resistance (ASR). The chemical and electrical properties of 316L exposed to a dual environment of air/ (H2+H2O) were compared to those of 316L exposed to a single environment of air/air.

Research Organization:
Albany Research Center (ARC), Albany, OR (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE - Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
OSTI ID:
895371
Report Number(s):
DOE/ARC-2004-058; R&D Project: AMP-020; TRN: US200702%%767
Resource Relation:
Conference: 29th International Technical Conference on Coal Utilization & Fuel Systems, April 18-22, 2004, Clearwater, Florida
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English