Fuel cells: Technology status report

Technical Report · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5558968

This report documents the status of the US Department of Energy's Fuel Cells Program as of the end of FY 86. The report consists of (1) an overview of the Fuel Cells Program including a brief discussion of how fuel cells work; (2) a synopsis of the Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC), Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC), and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Programs and their 1986 projects; (3) a discussion of the Fuel Cells Advanced Research and Technology Development (AR and TD) Program and projects; and (4) a summary of the Fuel Cells Systems and Applications Program. In 1986, stack development continued as the major thrust of the PAFC program. A 5-kW generator was fabricated and tested in the SOFC area. MCFC's successfully completed 5000 hours of submodule testing and plans were finalized for an 8-ft/sup 2/ full-area short stack cell. A common direction of fuel cell development has been to combine individual cells into groups called ''stacks'' or ''modules'' in order to increase power output. AR and TD provided information on reaction mechanisms and materials for MCFC's, SOFC's, and PAFC's. Systems Analysis and Applications development provided engineering and economic guidelines for MCFC's, SOFC's, and PAFC's to be used in a variety of utility and industrial settings. 23 refs., 22 figs., 4 tabs.

• Research Organization: USDOE Morgantown Energy Technology Center, WV
• OSTI ID: 5558968
• Report Number(s): DOE/METC-87/0257; ON: DE87006525
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
300500* -- Fuel Cells
ACID ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELLS
CERAMICS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMISTRY
DESIGN
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELECTROCHEMISTRY
ELECTRODES
ELECTROLYTES
EXPERIMENT PLANNING
FUEL CELLS
HIGH-TEMPERATURE FUEL CELLS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
MANAGEMENT
MOLTEN CARBONATE FUEL CELLS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOSPHORIC ACID
PLANNING
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
PROGRESS REPORT
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
TESTING