Characterisation of electrical performance of anode supported micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cell with methane fuel

The reduction and operation of Ni–YSZ anode-supported tubular cells on methane fuel is described. Cells were reduced on pure methane from 650 °C to 850 °C, varying reduction time and methane flow rate. The effect on electrochemical performance with methane fuel was then investigated at 850 °C after which temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO) was employed to measure carbon deposition. Results showed that carbon deposition was minimized after certain reduction conditions. The conclusion was that 30 min reduction at 650 °C with 10 ml min−1 methane reduction flow rate led to the highest current output over 1.2 A cm−2 at 0.5 V when the cell operated at 850 °C between 10 ml min−1 and 12.5 ml min−1 methane running flow rate. From these results, it is evident that solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) performance can be substantially improved by optimising preparation, reduction and operating conditions without the need for hydrogen.