Premium Power (October 1998)

Reduced-Temperature, Electrode-Supported, Planar (RTESP) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) System for Premium Power Applications

Sponsor: Materials and Systems Research, Inc.

• Project Performance Period: 11/1/1998 - 10/31/2001
• Total project (est.): $3,046,294.00
• Requested ATP funds: $1,990,847.00

Conventional electric power systems have several drawbacks, including interruptibility, air pollution, and high energy-distribution costs. Fuel cells, which convert chemical energy (from the electrochemical oxidation of gaseous fuels) into electricity, could provide on-site electric and thermal energy while eliminating distribution costs and blackouts and reducing air pollution. Materials and Systems Research plans to design and demonstrate compact solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) modules offering 70 percent to 85 percent efficiency that are suitable for stand-alone distributed power applications. SOFCs are superior to other types of fuel cells because of their high-efficiency solid-state design and the potential to use various types of fuel. However, existing technology is too costly to be practical. The company plans to reduce costs by using inexpensive materials and processes and maximizing power density. Stacks of high-performance cells will be integrated with novel processing technology that efficiently converts fuel to gas in modular units of 2 to 5 kilowatts, which can be combined to make larger systems. The units will run on natural gas or hydrogen. Small research cells offering high power density at low temperatures (650 degrees Celsius) have been demonstrated, but technical breakthroughs are needed to achieve this performance in stacks of 30 to 60 cells that are compatible with the fuel processing technology. ATP funding will enable this small company to perform the necessary research and development. A cost-effective process will be developed for making single cells, which will be designed to maximize surface areas and minimize power losses. A new strategy for stacking cells will be devised using inexpensive metallic interconnects. If successfully developed and later commercialized, the new technology could be valuable to both residential and commercial customers beset by power outages or high energy costs, or who have no electricity at all (as in rural communities or developing countries). Key subcontractors include the Gas Research Institute (Chicago, Ill.), Hydrogen Burner Technology (Long Beach, Calif.), and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah).

For project information:

Dr. Anil V. Virkar, (801) 581-5396
anil.virkar@m.cc.utah.edu

ATP Project Manager

Gerald Castellucci, (301) 975-2435
gerald.castellucci@nist.gov