Long-term operation stability tests of intermediate and high temperature Ni-based anodes' SOFCs directly fueled with simulated biogas mixtures

Long-term operational tests under direct biogas feeds of intermediate and high temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with Ni-cermet anodes, based respectively on gadolinia doped ceria (GDC) and yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) solid electrolytes are presented. Both biogas SOFCs seem to operate stably in a variety of biogas compositions, including poor-, equimolar- and rich-quality biogases, for a long period of time (for about 200 h at each condition, more than 600 h total operation for each cell). The only exception concerns the case of the intermediate temperature SOFC, when operated with poor biogas feed (i.e., CH4/CO2<1), where a systematic attenuation of cell performance is observed, resulting practically to its deactivation after ∼100 h. Details on cells output characteristics under all operating conditions are presented and discussed.

► Long-term stability tests of IT- and HT-SOFCs with Ni-based anodes are performed.
► Cells are directly feed with equimolar, rich or poor biogas compositions.
► Good stability is, in general, demonstrated for both IT- and HT-SOFCs.
► Performance attenuation is appeared only for IT-SOFC fed with poor biogas.
► V–I data indicates polarization characteristics of the cells in each case.