Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1289898 | Journal of Power Sources | 2009 | 7 Pages |
Abstract
The catalytic activity of single chamber solid oxide fuel cells (SC-SOFCs) with respect to hydrocarbon fuels induces a major overheating of the fuel cell, temperature variations along its length, and changes in the original fuel/air composition mainly over the anode component. This paper assesses the temperature gradients and the variations in performance along electrolyte-supported Ni-YSZ/YSZ/LSM cells fed with methane gas. The investigations are performed in a useful range of CH4/O2 ratios between 1.0 and 2.0, in which the furnace temperature and flow rate of methane-air mixtures are held constant at 700 °C and 450 sccm, respectively. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is used to sense the temperature at the location where smaller size cathodes are positioned on the opposite side of a full-size anode. Due to temperature increases, cells always perform better when the small cathodes are located at the inlet as well as at a CH4/O2 ratio of 1.0. With an increase in ratio, the results show the presence of artefacts due to the use of an active LSM material for the combustion of methane, and open-type gas distribution plates for the single chamber reactor.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemistry
Electrochemistry
Authors
Bertrand Morel, Réal Roberge, Sylvio Savoie, Teko W. Napporn, Michel Meunier,