Advances in Medium and High Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Technology

347 Pages·2017·9.979 MB·English

by  Marta Boaro, Aricò Antonino Salvatore (eds.)

CISM International Centre for Mechanical Sciences 574
Courses and Lectures
Marta Boaro
Antonino Salvatore Aricò E ditors
Advances in
Medium and High
Temperature Solid
Oxide Fuel Cell
Technology
International Centre
for Mechanical Sciences
CISM International Centre for Mechanical
Sciences
Courses and Lectures
Volume 574
Series editors
The Rectors
Friedrich Pfeiffer, Munich, Germany
Franz G. Rammerstorfer, Vienna, Austria
Elisabeth Guazzelli, Marseille, France
The Secretary General
Bernhard Schrefler, Padua, Italy
Executive Editor
Paolo Serafini, Udine, Italy
Theseriespresentslecturenotes,monographs,editedworksandproceedingsinthe
field of Mechanics, Engineering, Computer Science and Applied Mathematics.
Purpose of the series is to make known in the international scientific and technical
community results obtained in some of the activities organized by CISM, the
International Centre for Mechanical Sciences.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/76
ò
Marta Boaro Antonino Salvatore Aric
(cid:129)
Editors
Advances in Medium
and High Temperature Solid
Oxide Fuel Cell Technology
123
Editors
Marta Boaro AntoninoSalvatore Aricò
Department Polytechnic of Engineeringand Institute for Advances Energy Technologies
Architecture (ITAE)
University of Udine National Research Council (CNR)
Udine Messina
Italy Italy
ISSN 0254-1971 ISSN 2309-3706 (electronic)
CISMInternational Centre for MechanicalSciences
ISBN978-3-319-46145-8 ISBN978-3-319-46146-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-46146-5
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016952903
©CISMInternationalCentreforMechanicalSciences2017
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Preface
Modern societies are starving of energy to support their activities and growth.
Today, the energy consumption of a country represents a reliable measure of its
wealth and of its industrial development. The most industrialized countries
consume about 20 MWh per capita per year while the world average energy con-
sumptionisonlyof2.4MWh/year.Today,81%ofenergyproductioncomesfrom
theexploitationandtransformationoffossilfuels.Theseevidencessuggestthatwe
need to rethink both the way how energy is produced and its conversion into
electricitywiththeaimtoachieveasustainableandbalanceddevelopmentforevery
nation. Valorization of renewable resources and distributed energy generation are
veryappropriatestrategiestostrikeabalancebetweenthegrowingenergydemand
and the need to reduce the environmental impact on human activities.
This requires the development of green technologies for the production of
energy and for a rational and more efficient use of resources. Fuel cells, which
convert chemical energy directly to electricity, offer higher efficiencies and
significantly lower emissions than conventional technologies. The modular con-
figuration offuel cells makes these devices suitable for a wide range of potential
applications, including combined heat and power (CHP) production, distributed
power generation and transport, which reduces reliance on imports of primary
energy carriers and encourages local productivity.
Ina transitional phasefrom aneconomy based on thepredominantuse offossil
fuels to one capable of efficiently exploiting renewable sources, medium/high
temperature fuel cellsbased on ceramicoxides (solid oxide fuel cells, SOFCs) can
playafundamentalroleinacceleratingthetransformation.Thankstotheirabilityof
using hydrocarbon-based fuels, the increased durability, and higher tolerance to
contaminants, these type of cells could be immediately implemented in the estab-
lished grid infrastructure and therefore have a rapid market penetration on a large
scale.
Consideringthispotential,inrecentdecades,boththepublicandprivatesectors
haveinvestedresourcestobringSOFCstothecommercialandresidentialmarkets,
albeit with limited success. Progress in price reduction and performance increase
has remained incremental, and a real launch of the technology has long resided
v
vi Preface
“just around the corner.” Insufficient longevity, reliability, and especially
prohibitive costs are the main issues to be addressed.
The challenge of making fuel cells reliable, lasting, and efficient stemmed from
the complexity of how they work, which needs to be truly understood, requires an
interdisciplinary approach integrating scientific and technical knowledge. Several
examples suggest that this type of methodology could achieve ground-breaking
discoveries that would ultimately lead to viable commercial products.
For this purpose, the education of a class of scientists and engineers aware of
how the technology is progressing and able to tackle the current challenges is
crucial. In view of such request, this book gathers and updates a series of lectures
given at the “Advances in Medium and High temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell
Technology” international school organized by the editors in cooperation with the
InternationalCentreforMechanicalSciences(CISM)inJuly2014inUdine(Italy).
The book presents an overview of the recent advances in the field of SOFC tech-
nology and is intended as an introduction to the challenging issues that need to be
addressed.
The chapters are written by internationally renowned scientists currently
working at the leading edge of fuel cell research and development, and cover
severalthemessuchasthefundamentalsoffuelcellthermodynamics,materialsand
componentsproperties,electrodicprocesses,andthemodelingprinciplesforSOFC
systems.
In chapter “Introduction to Fuel Cell Basics,” fundamental electrochemistry of
medium-andhigh-temperaturefuelcells(solidoxidefuelcell,SOFCs)isexplained
with emphasis addressed to different aspects of high-temperature solid-state elec-
trochemistry compared to low-temperature electrochemistry.
Chapter“TestingofElectrodes,CellsandShortStacks”illustrateshowtoobtain
reliable,accurateandreproducibleelectrochemicalmeasurementsthroughaproper
selection of cell geometries and set-up. Principles, benefits, and drawbacks of
different characterization techniques are discussed. Moreover, the concept of
area-specificresistance(ASR)andhowdirectandalternatecurrentmethodscanbe
optimized to provide not only the total ASR but also an electrochemical charac-
terization of specific components (electrolyte and electrodes) of a fuel cell are
described. The authors conclude by introducing the readers to some of the
approaches used to study the effects of impurities on cell performance and to the
problem of gas leakage in high-temperature fuel cells.
Chapters“Proton-ConductingElectrolytesforSolidOxideFuelCellApplication”
and“InterconnectsforSolidOxideFuelCells”dealwithnewcategoriesofmaterials
toachievethetargetofmakingSOFCsefficientlyoperativeattemperaturesaslowas
550–600 °C. To this end, proton-conducting oxides have attracted widespread
interest as electrolyte materials, alternative to traditional oxygen ion conductors.
Chapter “Proton-Conducting Electrolytes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Application”
presentsanoverviewofmainadvancesinthefieldofsolidoxideproton-conducting
materialsdescribingseveralclassesofmaterialssuchasperovskite-basedmaterials
(e.g., doped BaCeO , BaZrO , BaCeO -BaZrO SrCeO , LaScO ) or fluorite- or
3 3 3 3 3 3
pyrochlore-based materials (e.g., doped Ba In O , CeO , LaNbO ). Composition,
2 2 5 2 4
Preface vii
transport,thermalandstructuralpropertiesofthematerialshavebeencorrelatedwith
theirconductivityandstabilitywiththeaimofindicatingthemostsuitablematerials
for SOFC applications. Chapter “Interconnects for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells” deals
withmaterialsandstrategiestopreparesuitableinterconnects.Authorsillustratethe
two main categories of interconnects: ceramic and metallic-type, pointing out
advantages and disadvantages of both. The recent strategy of coating metallic
interconnectswithredoxactiveoxideisalsodiscussed.
In chapter “Catalysts and Processes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells,” physical and
physicochemical properties of electrode materials are examined. It is pointed out
thatoperationofanodeswithfuelsotherthanhydrogen(fossilandrenewablefuels)
is commercially necessary and challenging because of carbon deposition. The
complex properties required for SOFC anodes are described, and issues related to
nickel anode degradation are specifically addressed. The ultimate approach of
producing stable direct oxidation in the anode is compared to the classical fuel
reformingprocesses(internalandexternaltotheanode),discussingadvantagesand
disadvantages of the different methods.
The final chapters of the book discuss the SOFC technology in terms of an
integrated system whose efficiency depends on several other subsystems. In this
light, modeling is a key tool to design and optimize such systems avoiding
extensiveexperimentalinvestigations.Chapters“EnergySystemAnalysisofSOFC
Systems,”“DOEMethodologiesforAnalysisofLargeSOFCSystems,”and“Solid
Oxide Fuel Cells Modeling” describe the principle of mathematical modeling
addressed to FC systems and processes optimization. The aim of Chapter “DOE
Methodologies for Analysis of Large SOFC Systems” is to design experiment
methodologies for analyzing large SOFC systems and the presentation of a case
history using the CHP-100 kWe SOFC Field Unit (Siemens Power
Generation-Stationary Fuel Cells) installed at TurboCare (Torino, Italy). Chapter
“Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Modeling” provides an introduction to SOFC modeling
usingamacroscopic,physicallybasedapproachforthedescriptionofthechemical
and electrochemical processes occurring at the electrodes.
We would like to thank all the authors for their valuable contribution to this
book, safe in the knowledge that their work will provide graduate students, young
researchers, and engineers with the scientific and technical know-hows to uncover
the secrets of solid.
Udine, Italy Marta Boaro
Antonino Salvatore Aricò
Contents
Introduction to Fuel Cell Basics.... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 1
Robert Steinberger-Wilckens
Testing of Electrodes, Cells, and Short Stacks .... .... .... ..... .... 31
Anne Hauch and Mogens B. Mogensen
Proton-Conducting Electrolytes for Solid Oxide Fuel
Cell Applications... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 77
Dmitry Medvedev, Angeliki Brouzgou, Anatoly Demin
and Panagiotis Tsiakaras
Interconnects for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 119
Angeliki Brouzgou, Anatoly Demin and Panagiotis Tsiakaras
Catalysts and Processes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells . .... .... ..... .... 155
Alfonsina Pappacena, Luca Bardini and Marta Boaro
Energy System Analysis of SOFC Systems... .... .... .... ..... .... 223
Andrea Lanzini, Domenico Ferrero and Massimo Santarelli
DOE Methodologies for Analysis of Large SOFC Systems .. ..... .... 265
DomenicoFerrero,AndreaLanzini,PierlugiLeoneandMassimoSantarelli
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Modeling ... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 291
Domenico Ferrero, Andrea Lanzini and Massimo Santarelli
ix
Introduction to Fuel Cell Basics
Robert Steinberger-Wilckens
Abstract Basic principles of catalysis, thermodynamics, and reaction kinetics are
very similar across the different types offuel cells. Nevertheless, the small differ-
encesbringdecisivevariationsinperformance,function,limitingfactors,sensitivity
to impurity poisoning, and finally applications. This chapter explains the basic
function of fuel cells, concentrating on the ceramic solid oxide fuel cell.
Understanding the scientific basis of fuel cell operation helps in designing and
optimising fuel cells, fuel cell stacks, and fuel cell systems.
1 World Energy Needs
In2014,theaverageworldenergyusepercapitawas1.8tonsofoilequivalent(toe,
1.8 toe/a*cap approx. being 25.2 MWh/a*cap) (BP 2015). This encompasses all
primary energy use of the world economies divided by world population and
includes residential (personal) energy use as well as transport, industry, military,
commercial, administrative, infrastructure, and finally non-energetic use of oil and
natural gas for chemical products.
Althoughthisnumbermayseemmoderate,theregionaldistributiongivesriseto
concerns. Whilst Bangladesh forms bottom of the list with 0.2 toe/a*cap
(2.8 MWh/a*cap, less than the average European household electricity bill), the
USA is the first runner with 7.3 toe/a*cap (102.2 MWh/a*cap), followed by a
number of other industrialised countries, including Japan and the EU with 3.7 and
3.3 toe/a*cap, respectively (51.8 and 46.2 MWh/a*cap). Table 1 shows primary
energy use in some selected regions of the world together with the related CO
2
emissions.
R.Steinberger-Wilckens(&)
SchoolofChemicalEngineering,CentreforFuelCellandHydrogenResearch,
UniversityofBirmingham,Birmingham,UK
e-mail:[email protected]
©CISMInternationalCentreforMechanicalSciences2017 1
M.BoaroandA.S.Aricò(eds.),AdvancesinMediumandHighTemperatureSolidOxide
FuelCellTechnology,CISMInternationalCentreforMechanicalSciences574,
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-46146-5_1