• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.157-159
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• 2001

The molten carbonate fuel cell has conspicuous feature and high potential in being used as an energy converter of various fuel to electricity and heat. However, the MCFC which use strongly corrosive molten carbonate at $650^{\circ}C$ have many problem. Systematic investigation on corrosion behavior of Fe/20Cr/Ti alloys has been done in (62+38)mol% (Li+K)C03 melt at 923K by using steady state polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy method. And, The research and development for the solid oxide fuel cell have been promoted rapidly and extensively in recent years, because of their high efficiency and future potential. Therefore this paper describes the manufacturing method and characteristics of anode electrode for SOFC, by the way, Ni-YSZ materials are used as anode of SOFC widely. So in this experiments, we investigated the optimum content of Ni, by the impedance characteristics, overvoltage. As a result, the performance of Ni-YSZ anode(40vol%) was better excellent than the others.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.129-136
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• 2006

High temperature corrosion behavior of AISI-type 316L stainless steel for the MCFC(molten carbonate fuel cell) bipolar application was studied by immersion test and penetration attack method in anode environment ($650^{\circ}C$, $Li_2CO_3/K_2CO_3=62/38$ mol%, $H_2/CO_2=80/20$ vol%) without or with different $CaCO_3$ content. Not only immersion test method but also morphological observation of samples in the carbonate melts are adopted as experimental methods. With aid of the morphological observation of cross section of samples immersed in a carbonate melt was possible to obtain penetration attack. The concentration effect of $CaCO_3$ inhibitor was investigated in order to verify the optimum concentration for practical application in MCFC stack operation. The corrosion rate in the presence of $CaCO_3$ was proven to be decreased as a function of $CaCO_3$ concentration. The corrosion rate in the presence of $CaCO_3$ was measured with a value of 6.9 mpy which is 2.4 times lower than that of inhibitor-free electrolyte. The cross section microscopy revealed that the internal penetration by oxidation in molten carbonate is very severe. In this case, the attack was occurred not only dissolution loss in the electrolyte by corrosion reaction but also weight gain through oxide layer by internal penetration.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.55-62
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• 1992

To improve the MCFC performance it is important to distingush between polarization losses occuring in the individual electrodes and other components. In this study a current interruption technique has been applied to a MCFC unit cell having a reference electrode to separately study the contributions of IR loss and other polarization losses. At a current density of $150mA/cm^2$ the IR-free polarization of a Ni anode was about 60mV while that of a NiO cathode was 130mV and the Ohmic loss of the cell was as large as 170mV suggesting that both the cathode and the cell structure need further improvement. The thin-film electrode model was used to simulate the performance of the electrodes. Both andoe data and cathode data were successfully fitted.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.259-265
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• 2008

The corrosion and degradation factors of a current collector in a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) were investigated to determine the optimized coating thickness of nickel on STS316L. The results show that the surface morphology and electrical properties depended on the nickel coating thickness. The surface morphology gradually changed from a flat to a porous structure along as the nickel coating thickness decreased, and the electrical resistance of the nickel-coated STS316L increased as the nickel coating thickness decreased. This can be attributed to the diffusion of elements of Fe and Cr from the substrate through the nickel grain boundaries. Additionally, carburization in the metal grains or grain boundaries in an anodic environment was found to influence the electrical properties due to matrix distortion. The resistance of Cr-oxide layers formed in an anodic environment causes a drop in the potential, resulting in a decrease in the system efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.125-131
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• 2001

A long-term variation of electrode polarization in the MCFC has been analyzed successfully using a single cell with a Au, $CO_2/O_2$ reference electrode Four different cells with different components were operated and their electrode polarizations were analyzed. As published in the literatures, the cathode polarization was larger than that of the anode. The more stable operation of a single cell with the Al-coated cell frame up to 6,000hrs indicates that the corrosion at the cell frame, particularly wet seal area, plays an important role to determine the lifetime of a MCFC. At the initial stage of the cell operation, the voltage of the cell using a cathode stabilized by the $LiCoO_2$ coating was relatively low due to the high cathode polarization. As the cell was operated and the stabilized cathode was lithiated sufficiently, the cathode polarization decreased and the cell voltage was recovered. It was observed that the voltage of the cell using the $Li_2CO_3/Na_2CO_3$ electrolyte fluctuated with operation time and the cathode polarization fluctuated along with the cell voltage quite similarly. Although the mechanisms of the voltage fluctuation were not clear yet, the results imply that the voltage fluctuation was related with a reaction in the cathode side. After testing every single cell, the cathode polarization increased with the steep decrease in the cell voltage. Thus, the cathode should be improved in order to develop more durable MCFC.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.124-131
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• 2006

For commercialization of molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), it has some problems to be overcome such as decrease of porosity and thickness of the anode under the operating condition (at $650^{\circ}C$ and working pressure of more than 2 $kg_f/cm^2$). Recently, Ni-Al alloy anode has been proposed to replace the conventional Ni-Cr anode as an alternative material to resist a creep and inhibit the sintering. The objective of this research is to sinter the green sheet of Ni-Al alloy anode during single cell pre-treatment process, which has several advantages like cost down and simplification of manufacturing process. However, the Ni-Al alloy anode prepared with a conventional pre-treatment process showed the phase separation of Ni-Al alloy and formation of micropore(${\leqq}0.4{\mu}m$), resulting in low creep resistance and high electrolyte re-distribution. In order to prevent the Ni-Al alloy anode from phase-separating, nitrogen gas was used in the process of pre-treatment. Introducing the nitrogen, the phase separation from Ni-Al alloy into nickel and alumina was minimized and increased creep resistance. However, there was some micropore formation on the surface of Ni-Al alloy anode during the cell operation due to creation of lithium aluminate. Addition of more amount of electrolyte into a cell, especially at cathode, made the cell performance stable for 2,000 hrs. Consequently, it was possible to make the Ni-Al alloy anode with good creep resistance by the modified in-situ sintering technique.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.353-356
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• 2009

A pivotal mechanical balance of plant for 75kW class molten carbonate fuel cells comprise of a catalytic burner and an ejector which has been designed and tested in KEPRI(Korea Electric Power Research Institute). The catalytic burner, which oxidizes residual fuel in the anode tail gas, was operated at several conditions. Some problems arose due to local overheating or auto-ignition, which could limit the catalyst life. The catalytic burner was designed by considering both gas mixing and gas velocity. Test results showed that the temperature distribution is very uniform. In addition, an ejector is a fluid machinery to be utilized for mixing fluids, maintaining vacuum, and transporting them. The ejector is placed at mixing point between the anode off gas and the cathode off gas or the fresh air Several ejectors were designed and tested to form a suction on the fuel tail gas and balance the differential pressures between anode and cathode over a range of operating conditions. The tests showed that the design of the nozzle and throat played an important role in balancing the anode tail and cathode inlet gas pressures. The 75kW MCFC system built in our ejector and catalytic burner was successfully operated from Novembe, 2008 to April, 2009. It recorded the voltage of 104V at the current of 754A and reached the maximum generating power of 78.5kW DC. The results for both stand-alone and integration into another balance of plant are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.571-576
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• 1998

This study was carried out for investigating the corrosion behaviors, corrosion mechanisms, and behaviors of elements on a separator for a molten carbonate fuel cell under both the electrolyte and anode side environment. A 310S austenitic stainless steel was used as the separator material. Corrosion proceeded via three steps; the formation step of corrosion product in which rapid corrosion takes place until stable corrosion product is formed after the beginning of corrosion, the protection step against corrosion until breakaway occurs after the formation step of stable corrosion product and the advancing step of corrosion after the breakaway. From the standpoint of the behavior of the elements in the specimen, Fe and Cr, Ni were enriched in the region of corrosion product, in the region of corrosion protection, and at the Cr-deplete zone, respectively. With respect to corrosion mechanism, ionization of electrolyte at the anode side was the main corrosion mechanism, and the final corrosion products were $LiFeO_2$ and $LiCrO_2$ at the anode side.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.82.2-82.2
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• 2011

A channel design which is closely related with the mass transport overpotential is one of the most important procedures to optimize the whole fuel cell performance. In this study, three dimensional results of a numerical study for gas distribution in channels of a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) unit cell for a 1kW class stack was presented. The relationship between the fuel and air distribution in the anode and cathode channels of the unit cell and the electric performance was observed. A charge balance model in the electrodes and the electrolyte coupled with a heat transfer model and a fluid flow model in the porous electrodes and the channels was solved for the mass, momentum, energy, species and charge conservation. The electronic and ionic charge balance in the anode and cathode current feeders, the electrolyte and GDEs were solved for using Ohm's law, while Butler-Volmer charge transfer kinetics described the charge transfer current density. The material transport was described by the diffusion and convection equations and Navier-Stokes equations govern the flow in the open channel. It was assumed that heat is produced by the electrochemical reactions and joule heating due to the electrical currents.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.1133-1137
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• 1998

By the mechanical alloying method Ni-W(WC) composite materials were prepared to improve the resistance for creep and sintering of Ni-anode at the operating temperature of$ 650^{\circ}C$. Amorphization was observed from the XRD analysis of mechanically alloyed powder caused by the destruction of ordered crystals. Sintering was performed at $1280^{\circ}C$ for 10 hours in $H_2$ atmosphere. From the result of dot-mapping and TEM analysis the second phase was not observed at Ni-W interface while W particles of less 0.lam were distributed finely and uniformly in Ni matrix. This finely and uniformly distributed W in Ni matrix is expected to enhance the mechanical properties of Ni-anode through the dispersion and solid solution hardening mechanisms.