Effects of coal syngas and H2S on the performance of solid oxide fuel cells: Single-cell tests

The performance of single-cell planar solid oxide fuel cells using coal syngas, with and without hydrogen sulfide (H2S), was studied. A state-of-the-art gas delivery system, data acquisition system, and test stand were designed and assembled for experimentation. All cells were tested at 850 °C with a constant current load of 14.3 A (current density of 0.20 A cm−2). The results from using syngas with no H2S indicated no degradation after 290 h of operation. After immediately injecting CO (and water) in the H2–N2 mixture, there was a slight tendency of improving performance (power) and then the behavior remained steady. On the other hand, results for the test with syngas in the presence of H2S (200–240 ppm) indicated good performance over 570 h (650 h total operation time) with 10–12.5% degradation. The results suggest these cells can be used for extended periods of time for syngas applications, and in the presence of H2S the cells show no major degradation.