Anode Reaction in Pressurized Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Abstract

Pressurized solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) using a gas turbine for the bottoming cycle convert energy very efficiently. The performance of a tubular SOFC made by a plasma spray coating method was measured at levels of pressure between 0.1 and 0.59 MPa. The cell voltage increased with the operating pressure. Moreover, it was determined that polarization decreased under pressurization, using the current interruption. Anode performance was also measured with a reference electrode. The estimated concentration overvoltage from the measurement of permeability was used to estimate the activation overvoltage of the anode. The anode activation overvoltage was affected by the partial pressure of H₂O instead than that of H₂.