A large-capacity [100 kW-class] molten Carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) stack was operated for over 5000 hours by CRIEPI/IHI under the New Sunshine Program. The stack was manufactured by IHI/NEDO, and consisted of 102 cells which were 1 m2 in size and had rectangular shape and Co-flow internal gas manifold. In the initial stage, the stack achieved over l00 kW electric power generation with small cell-to-cell variation and demonstrated high performance similarly to the [10 kW-class] stack operated under an collaborative research agreement with CRIEPI and IHI. On the other hand, slow voltage decrease and increase phenomena were observed, and thermal deformation occurred in the tall stack. Also, an increase of inside shorting current calculated by gas analysis was observed. This may be caused by cathode NiO dissolution and deposition.
