Investigation of Rapid, Moderate Temperature Change Thermal Cycles of a Micro-Tubular Flame-Assisted Fuel Cell

Milcarek, Ryan J.; Garrett, Michael J.; Welles, Thomas S.; Ghotkar, Rhushikesh; Ahn, Jeongmin

doi:10.1115/1.4049923

Investigation of Rapid, Moderate Temperature Change Thermal Cycles of a Micro-Tubular Flame-Assisted Fuel Cell

Journal Article · 12 February 2021 · Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4049923· OSTI ID:1980650

Milcarek, Ryan J. ^[1]; Garrett, Michael J. ^[2]; Welles, Thomas S. ^[2]; Ghotkar, Rhushikesh ^[1]; Ahn, Jeongmin ^[2]

School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, 501 East Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287-6106,
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244

Despite many efforts and improvements over the last few decades, two of the major challenges facing solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are slow heating rates to operating temperature (typically < 5 °C · min–1) and a limited ability to thermal cycle (<200 cycles). Recently, a novel hybrid setup that combines a fuel-rich combustion reformer with a SOFC was developed and utilized to investigate rapid heating, cooling, and thermal cycling of a micro-tubular SOFC. In this work, 3000 moderate thermal cycles are conducted at a heating rate exceeding 140 °C · min–1 and a cooling rate that exceeded 100 °C · min–1. The open-circuit voltage (OCV) was analyzed over the 150 h test, and a low degradation rate of ~0.0008 V per 100 cycles per fuel cell was observed in the absence of the current collector degradation. Unlike a previous test, which was conducted at lower temperatures, significant degradation of the current collector was observed during this test. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy shows that degradation in the SOFC was due to increases in ohmic losses, activation losses at the cathode, and increased concentration losses.

Research Organization:: Syracuse Univ., NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

DOE Contract Number:: EE0006031

OSTI ID:: 1980650

Journal Information:: Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage, Vol. 18, Issue 4; ISSN 2381-6872

Publisher:: ASME

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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