Impact of Feedstock Processing on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Properties

Background

Different from traditional energy conversion devices, a fuel cell produces electricity by electrochemically combining a fuel with oxidant. Because of the direct combination of the fuel and the oxidant, a fuel cell is not restricted by Carnot Cycle thus can achieve a substantially high efficiency. [1] Among the various types of fuel cells, Solid Oxide Fuel Cell(SOFC) distinguishes itself with extremely high efficiency, fuel flexibility and little noise or pollution-forming emissions. It can be applied in both large-scale centralized power stations and distributed power generation. However, its application is limited by the high cost, relatively low durability and reliability. Thus the key technical challenge is to find suitable materials and manufacturing processes to lower the cost as well as to limit the corrosion and degradation. The Fuel Cell Materials and Manufacturing Laboratory conducts research aiming at the challenges stated above. One of the recent research subject of the lab is the “bi-layer metal support” for SOFCs, which was tested to be effective in balancing the permeability and the ability of support other layers. However, more techniques can be adopted to improve this technology such as dip coating and preheating.

Objectives

The thesis project aims at improving the lifetime and the efficiency of SOFC by adjusting the processing techniques of the metal support layer and the feedstock composition for the other layers.

Approach and Methods

The thesis includes four potential sub-projects which are subjected to changes as the experiments develop and new problems occur.

1. Solubility of various metal oxides in deionised water at different pH with and without dispersants. Through measuring the solubility, we can access the quality of the suspension used for fuel cell plasma spray and thus predict or verify the performance and problems of the SOFC samples.

2. Improve the dip coating techniques for the SOFC metal support layer. Through...