• Ceramist
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.184-199
• /
• 2020

The solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are the one of the most promising energy conversion devices which can directly convert chemical energy into electric power with high efficiency and low emission. The lowering operating temperature below 800 ℃ has been considered as the mostly considerable research and development for commercialization. The major issue is to maintain reasonably high performance of SOFCs at reduced temperatures due to increment of polarization resistance of electrodes and electrolyte. Thus, the alternative materials with high catalytic activities and fast oxygen ion conductivity are required. For recent advances in electrolyte materials and technology, newly designed, highly conductive electrolyte materials and structural engineering of them provide a new path for further reduction in ohmic polarization resistance from electrolytes. Here, a powerful strategy of the bilayer concept with various oxide electrolytes of SOFCs are briefly reviewed. These recent developments also highlight the need for electrolytes with greater conductivity to achieve a high performance, thus providing a useful guidance for the rational design of cell structures for SOFCs. Moreover, cell design, materials compatibility, processing methods, are discussed, along with their role in determining cell performance. Results from state-of-the-art SOFCs are presented, and future prospects are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.180-187
• /
• 1997

$La_{0.68}Ca_{0.32}Cr_{0.97}O_{3}$ interconnector films ior pimar rypn solid oxide fuel (,ells were prepared under various sinteririg conditions and their bending strength. relative ilerisit~. m t l c:lec ~ ~ - i i ; i l condl~cti\.lt\ were niexiureti in order to study their mechanical and electrical propertics Th' Irndirig sriength of $La_{0.68}Ca_{0.32}Cr_{0.97}O_{3}$ lt the room temperature \vas increased with increasing sinrering temperature dnfl tinic. The relative densit\- of more than 94% was ohtained 1)). sintering at $1400^{\circ}C$ for 5hrs. The present irlvestigiition rovcals thcit sirileririg of $La_{0.68}Ca_{0.32}Cr_{0.97}O_{3}$ at lorn. temperature xyvas greatly assisted by formation oi Ca,,,(CrO,),, Also the i,leitriczl conductivity at $1000^{\circ}C$ \vas more than 100S; cm d t e r heating at $1400^{\circ}C$ for 7hrs.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.596-604
• /
• 2020

Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) attracts much attention because of its high energy efficiency among many water-electrolysis technologies. SOEC operates at temperatures above 700℃, so that the water required for water-electrolysis must be supplied in the form of steam. When the steam to be supplied to the SOEC is generated by the SOEC system itself, an enormous amount of latent heat is required to vaporize the water, so additional energy must be supplied to the SOEC system. On the other hand, if the steam can be supplied from the outside, a small amount of energy is required to raise the temperature of the low temperature steam, so that the SOEC system can be operated without additional energy supply from outside, which enables efficient water-electrolysis. In this study, we figure out the size of heat exchanger for various steam temperature and effectiveness of heat exchanger, and propose the energy efficiency of the system.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.56 no.12
• /
• pp.893-899
• /
• 2018

In the present study, we investigated the sulfur poisoning of the Ni anode in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) as a function of operating conditions. Anode supported cells were fabricated, and sulfur poising tests were conducted as a function of current density, $H_2S$ concentration and humidity in the anode gas. The voltage drop was significant under the higher current density (${\sim}714mA/cm^2$) condition, while it was much reduced under the lower current density (${\sim}389mA/cm^2$) condition, at 100 ppm of $H_2S$. A secondary voltage drop, which occurred only at the high current density, was attributed to Ni oxidation in the anode. Thus, operation at high current density with high $H_2S$ concentration may lead to permanent deterioration in the anode. The effect of water content (10%) on the sulfur poisoning was also investigated through a constant current test (${\sim}500mA/cm^2$) at 10 ppm of $H_2S$. The cell operating with 10% wet anode gas showed a much smaller initial voltage drop, in comparison with a dry anode gas. The present study indicates that operating conditions, such as gas humidity and current density, should be carefully taken into account, especially when fuel cells are operated with $H_2S$ containing fuel.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.56-62
• /
• 2021

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is the high efficiency fuel cell operating at high temperatures ranging from 700-1000℃. Design of the flow paths of the fuel and air in SOFCs is important to improve cell performance and prevent cell degradation. However, the uneven distribution of current density in the traditional type having one inlet and outlet causes cell degradation. In this regard, the parallel flow path with two inlet and outlets was designed and compared to the traditional type based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. To check the cell performance, hydrogen distribution, velocity distribution and current density distribution were monitored. The results validated that the parallel designs with two inlets and outlets have a higher cell performance compared to the traditional design with one inlet and outlet due to a larger reaction area. In case of uniform-type paths, more uniform current density distribution was observed with less cross-sectional variation in flow paths. In case of contracted and expanded inflow paths, significant improvement of performance and uniform current density was not observed compared to uniform parallel path. Considering SOFC cell with uniform current density can prevent cell degradation, more suitable design of SOFC cell with less cross-sectional variation in the flow path should be developed. This work can be helpful to understand the role of flow distribution in the SOFC performance.

• New & Renewable Energy
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.40-49
• /
• 2022

In this study, the phase and electrochemical properties of Co and Ti substituted layered perovskites SmBaCo_2-xTi_xO_5+d (x=0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.1, 1.3, and 1.5) were analyzed, and their application as electrodes in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) were evaluated. After calcination at 1300℃ for 6 h, a single phase was observed for two compositions of the SmBaCo_2-xTi_xO_5+d oxide system, SmBaCoTiO_5+d (x=1.0) and SmBaCo_0.9Ti_1.1O_5+d (x=1.1). However, the phases of SmBaCoTiO_5+d (SBCTO) and SmTiO₃ coexisted for compositions with x≥1.3 (Ti content). In contrast, for compositions of x≤0.7, the SmBaCo₂O_5+d phase was observed instead of the SmTiO₃ phase. To evaluate the applicability of these materials as SOFC electrodes, the electrical conductivities were measured under various atmospheres (air, N₂, and H₂). SBCTO exhibited stable semi-conductor electrical conductivity behavior in an air and N₂ atmosphere. However, SBCTO showed insulator behavior at temperatures above 600℃ in a H₂ atmosphere. Therefore, SBCTO may only be used as cathode materials. Moreover, SBCTO had an area specific resistance (ASR) value of 0.140 Ω·cm² at 750℃.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.707-714
• /
• 2022

Hydrogen production using solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) is a promising technology because of its efficiency, cleanness, and scalability. Especially, high-power SOEC system has received a lot of attention from researchers. This study compared and analyzed the low-power and high-power SOEC system in term of economic. By using revenue requirement method, levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) was calculated for comparison. In addition, the sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the dependence of hydrogen cost on input variables. The results indicated that high-power SOEC system is superior to a low-power SOEC system. In the capital cost, the stack cost is dominant in both systems, but the electricity cost is the most contributed factor to the hydrogen cost. If the high-power SOEC system combines with a nuclear power plant, the hydrogen cost can reach 3.65 $/kg when the electricity cost is 3.28 ¢/kWh and the stack cost is assumed to be 574 $/kW.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2005.06a
• /
• pp.306-309
• /
• 2005

One of the most critical issues in sol id oxide fuel cell (SOFC)running on hydrocarbon fuels is the risk of carbon formation from the fuel gas. The simple method to reduce the risk of carbon formation from the reactions is to add steam to the fuel stream, leading to the carbon gasification react ion. However, the addition of steam to fuel is not appropriate for the auxiliary power unit (APU) and potable power generation (PPG) systems due to an increase of complexity and bulkiness. In this regard, many researchers have focused on so-called 'direct methane' operation of SOFC, which works with dry methane without coking. However, coking can be suppressed only by the operation with a high current density, which may be a drawback especially for the APU and PPG systems. The single chamber fuel cell (SC-SOFC) is a novel simplification of the conventional SOFC into which a premixed fuel/air mixture is introduced. It relies on the selectivity of the anode and cathode catalysts to generate a chemical potential gradient across the cell. Moreover it allows compact and seal-free stack design. In this study, we fabricated honeycomb type mixed-gas fuel cell (MGFC) which has advantages of stacking to the axial direction and increasing volume power density. Honeycomb-structured SOFC with four channels was prepared by dry pressing method. Two alternative channels were coated with electrolyte and cathode slurry in order to make cathodic reaction sites. We will discuss that the anode supported honeycomb type cell running on mixed gas condition.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.116-123
• /
• 2019

Thermal batteries are also called molten-salt batteries as the electrolyte is mainly composed of molten salt. The molten-salt electrolyte is a solid that does not conduct electricity at room temperature, but when it is melted by a pyrotechnic heat source, it becomes an excellent ionic conductor. Thermal batteries are a kind of pyrotechnic battery because they operate only when the solid electrolyte is melted by the heat energy provided by pyrotechnic materials. Pyrotechnic components used in a thermal battery include heat sources, fuse strips, and an igniter. The reliability of these pyrotechnic components critically affects the reliability and performance of the battery that must supply electricity stably to guided munitions even under extreme environmental conditions. Different igniter types offer different advantages: notch-type igniters offer improved ignition probability, whereas film-type igniters offer improved safety. The addition of metal oxides to the heat paper could improve the burn rate, and the ignition reliability could be greatly improved by using it with a flame igniter at the same time. Using a two-step reduction process, high-purity Fe particles in coral form can be safely obtained.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.9 no.11
• /
• pp.1075-1082
• /
• 1999

Composite air electrodes of 50/50 vol% LSM- YSZ where LSM =$\textrm{La}_{1-x}\textrm{Sr}_{x}\textrm{MnO}_{3}$(0$\leq$x$\leq$0.5) were prepared by colloidal deposition technique. The electrodes were then examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and studied by ac impedance spectroscopy in order to improve the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). Reproducible impedance spectra were confirmed by using the improved cell, consisting of LSM- YSZ/YSZ/LSM-YSZ. These spectra were a strong function of operating temperature and the stable conditions for the cells were typically reached at $900^{\circ}C$. The typical spectra measured for an air//air cell at $900^{\circ}C$ were composed of two arcs. Addition of YSZ to the LSM electrode led to a pronounced decrease in cathodic resistivity of LSM-YSZ composite electrodes. Polishing the electrolyte surface to eliminate the influences of surface impurities could further reduce cathode resistivity. The cathodic resistivity of the LSM-YSZ electrodes with catalytic interlayer (Ni or Sr) was much smaller than that of LSM-YSZ electrodes without catalytic interlayer. In addition, the cathodic resistivity of the LSM-YSZ electrodes was a strong function of composition of electrode materials, the electrolyte geometry, and applied current.