Development of molten-carbonate fuel-cell power plant. Quarterly technical progress report, February 1, 1981-April 30, 1981

Technical Report · Tue Oct 20 00:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:5232085

Work proceeded this quarter under three program tasks. Under Task 1.0, evaluation of the candidate power plant cycles continued by preparing capital cost estimates of the four cycles. As part of the definition of fuel cell goals and stack module requirements, a number of optimization and trade-off studies were made. Experimental tests were conducted on proposed catalyst systems. Under Task 2.0, acoustic emission was implemented as an in-cell thermal cycling diagnostic tool. Chromium-coated stainless steel showed superior corrosion resistance in the anode environment, but not in the cathode environment. Initial stability tests of the metal-plated ceramic particle anodes are encouraging. A cost analysis for metal-plated anodes was made. Off-site fabrication of cathodes with desired porosity and pore size was successful. Tests to evaluate time-dependent changes in chloride synthesis of LiA10/sub 2/, SrTi0/sub 3/ and their mixtures were started. The spray-drying process for electrolyte powders continued to be evaluated and show good results. Work was intiated to evaluate low-cost commercial aluminas for electrolyte materials. Li/Na is being investigated as an alternate composition of the electrolyte. Available carbonate-loss data from bench-scale cells have been used to assess loss-control approaches to achieve 40,000 hours lifetime. Testing of sheet-metal cells continued to improve their power output, and boiler-plate cells continued to show excellent performance and reproducibility. Temperatures mapping studies in the cells were started. A design study for a short stack of full-sized tiles was completed. Lastly, improvements of the thermal control of the 16 sq.ft. electrolyte tile mold were made. Task 3.0 continued on the development capability for full scale stack tests. (WHK)

• Research Organization: General Electric Co., Schenectady, NY (USA). Energy Systems Programs Dept.
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-80ET17019
• OSTI ID: 5232085
• Report Number(s): DOE/ET/17019-5; ON: DE82012316
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Portions of document are illegible
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
FUEL CELL POWER PLANTS
COAL GASIFICATION
DESIGN
MOLTEN CARBONATE FUEL CELLS
ANODES
CATHODES
CORROSION
CORROSION RESISTANCE
COST
ELECTROCATALYSTS
FABRICATION
FUEL SYSTEMS
MATERIALS
MATRIX MATERIALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
OPTIMIZATION
PERFORMANCE TESTING
POROSITY
PURIFICATION
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
TEXACO GASIFICATION PROCESS
CATALYSTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELECTRODES
FUEL CELLS
GASIFICATION
HIGH-TEMPERATURE FUEL CELLS
POWER PLANTS
TESTING
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
300501* - Fuel Cells- Design & Development
300502 - Fuel Cells- Performance & Testing
300503 - Fuel Cells- Materials
Components
& Auxiliaries