Ethanol internal reforming in solid oxide fuel cells: A path toward high performance metal-supported cells for vehicular applications

Journal Article · Thu Dec 12 00:00:00 EST 2019 · Journal of Power Sources

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2019.227598· OSTI ID:1578190

Dogdibegovic, Emir ^[1]; Fukuyama, Yosuke ^[2]; Tucker, Michael C. ^[3]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
2. Nissan Motors Company, Ltd, Kanagawa (Japan)
3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Internal reforming of ethanol fuel was explored on high-performance metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells (MS-SOFCs) with infiltrated catalysts. The hydrogen concentration and internal reforming effects were evaluated systematically with different fuels including: hydrogen, simulated reformate, anhydrous ethanol, ethanol water blend, and hydrogen-nitrogen mixtures. A simple infiltration of Ni reforming catalyst into 40 vol.% Ni-Sm_0.20Ce_0.80O_2-δ (Ni-SDCN₄₀) and fuel-side metal support leads to complete internal reforming, as validated by comparison to simulated reformate. The performance difference between hydrogen and fully-reformed ethanol is attributed entirely to decrease in hydrogen concentration. High peak power density was achieved for a range of conditions, for example 1.0 W cm^-2 at 650 °C in ethanol-water blend, and 1.4 W cm^-2 at 700 °C in anhydrous ethanol fuel. Initial durability tests with ethanol-water blend show promising stability for 100 hours at 700 °C and 0.7 V. Carbon is not deposited in the Ni-SDCN₄₀ anode during operation.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1578190
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1579409
• Journal Information: Journal of Power Sources, Journal Name: Journal of Power Sources Journal Issue: C Vol. 449; ISSN 0378-7753
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
Ethanol internal reforming
Infiltration
Metal-support
Solid oxide fuel cell