A verification of the reaction mechanism of direct carbon solid oxide fuel cells

Anode-supported tubular solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with Cu–CeO₂–yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) anode, YSZ electrolyte film, and silver cathode were fabricated. The cells were tested with 5 wt% Fe-loaded activated carbon and dry CO, respectively, and their performances were compared to verify the reaction mechanism of direct carbon SOFCs (DC-SOFCs). The corresponding current–voltage curves and impedance characteristics of the cells operating on these two different fuels were found to be almost the same at high temperatures, demonstrating the presumed mechanism that the anode reaction of a DC-SOFC is the electrochemical oxidation of CO, just as in a SOFC operated directly on CO. Some experimental evidences including the difference in open circuit voltage at different temperatures and the operating stability of the cells were analyzed in detail.     

Hybrid direct carbon fuel cells and their reaction mechanisms—a review

As coal is expected to continue to dominate power generation demands worldwide, it is advisable to pursue the development of more efficient coal power generation technologies. Fuel cells show a much higher fuel utilization efficiency, emit fewer pollutants (NO _x , SO _x ), and are more easily combined with carbon capture and storage (CCS) due to the high purity of CO₂ emitted in the exhaust gas. Direct carbon (or coal) fuel cells (DCFCs) are directly fed with solid carbon to the anode chamber. The fuel cell converts the carbon at the anode and the oxygen at the cathode into electricity, heat and reaction products. The use of an external gasifier and a fuel cell operating on syngas (e.g. integrated gasification fuel cells) is briefly discussed for comparative purposes. A wide array of DCFC types have been investigated over the last 20 years. Here, the diversity of pre-commercialization DCFC research efforts is discussed on the fuel cell stack and system levels. The range of DCFC types can be roughly broken down into four fuel cell types: aqueous hydroxide, molten hydroxide, molten carbonate and solid oxide fuel cells. Emphasis is placed on the electrochemical reactions occurring at the anode and the proposed mechanism(s) of these reactions for molten carbonate, solid oxide and hybrid direct carbon fuel cells. Additionally, the criteria of choosing the ‘best’ DCFC technology is explored, including system design (continuous supply of solid fuel), performance (power density, efficiency), environmental burden (fresh water consumed, solid waste produced, CO₂ emitted, ease of combination with CCS) and economics (levelized cost of electricity).     

A Carbon–Air Battery for High Power Generation

We report a carbon–air battery for power generation based on a solid‐oxide fuel cell (SOFC) integrated with a ceramic CO₂‐permeable membrane. An anode‐supported tubular SOFC functioned as a carbon fuel container as well as an electrochemical device for power generation, while a high‐temperature CO₂‐permeable membrane composed of a CO₃^2? mixture and an O^2? conducting phase (Sm_0.2Ce_0.8O_1.9) was integrated for in situ separation of CO₂ (electrochemical product) from the anode chamber, delivering high fuel‐utilization efficiency. After modifying the carbon fuel with a reverse Boudouard reaction catalyst to promote the in situ gasification of carbon to CO, an attractive peak power density of 279.3 mW cm^?2 was achieved for the battery at 850 °C, and a small stack composed of two batteries can be operated continuously for 200 min. This work provides a novel type of electrochemical energy device that has a wide range of application potentials.     

Carbon monoxide reduction in solid oxide fuel cell–mini gas turbine hybrid power system

In this paper, combined heat and power frameworks employing solid oxide fuel cell power module and a small-scale gas turbine are presented. The offered system is utilized as heat and power supply for residential consumers with a carbon dioxide sorption circulating fluidized bed. As well a favorable solution for the high penalties associated with CO₂ capture and reuse of the CO contents is offered. The combined heat and power system considered by a different arrangement in order to high proficiency, controllability, heat recovery and high capacity of energy. In the proposed system, the unburned product from the solid oxide fuel cell is re-extracted and utilized as a fuel source. The suggested system is analyzed by the first and second law of thermodynamics. During this study, comprehensive calculations of chemistry and thermal within the fuel cell are performed to get accurate results. The impact of various parameters, for example fuel and oxidant rate, carbon dioxide removal, operating pressure, compressor parameter on work and heat output of the cycle as well as the discharge of carbon dioxide contamination, is investigated. The optimal pressure ratio of the compressor to minimize the carbon dioxide production is found.

     

直接碳氢化合物固体氧化物燃料电池

直接碳氢化合物固体氧化物燃料电池(D-HC SOFC)具有能量密度高和运行成本低等特点,可望在便携式电源等方面得到广泛应用,已成为国际上SOFC领域的研究热点。本文对D-HC SOFC进行了热力学分析,综述了目前国际上在D-HC SOFC研究方面的现状,指出现有的D-HC SOFC研究工作绝大多数都是围绕着如何避免积碳进行。围绕着避免积碳的3条途径即降低工作温度、采用合适的催化剂和促进电化学氧化,对D-HC SOFC研究进行了阐述和讨论。文中还提到一些阳极反应机理方面的研究,并对今后的D-HC SOFC工作提出了作者的观点,认为应该在D-HC SOFC电池组方面和涉及到气体分布的阳极反应机理方面做更多工作。     

Electrochemical CO2 reduction with power generation in SOFCs with Cu-added LSCF–GDC cathode

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) unit was constructed with Ni–GDC (gadolinia-doped ceria) as the anode, YSZ as the electrolyte, and Cu-added La_0.58Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O_3–δ–GDC as the cathode. Electrochemical CO₂ reduction occurs. The CO formation rate, the CO₂ conversion and the generated current density increase with increasing CO₂ concentration and temperature. The CO₂ conversion rate equals exactly the CO formation rate. No carbon deposition occurs. The activation energy is 2.72 kcal mol^?1. The electrochemical CO₂ reduction (dissociation) can have much lower activation barrier than the catalytic one. Simultaneous CO₂ reduction with power generation in SOFCs can be feasible.     

Determination of H2S and HCl concentration limits in the fuel for anode supported SOFC operation

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is an electric generator, operating based on electrochemical reaction converting gaseous fuel to electricity and heat. It is characterized by the high electrical efficiency of up to 70% with cogeneration and negligible emission of pollutants. Syngas from the biomass gasification is considered to be a possible fuel for solid oxide fuel cell systems. However, high level of contaminants such as H₂S, HCl, alkali metals, tars and particulates, in addition to possibility of carbon deposition and high temperature gradients due to internal reforming of hydrocarbons requires cleaning and conditioning of the syngas stream. The current status of the effect of contaminants on the SOFC performance has been reviewed and effects of single contaminants (H₂S, HCl) has been tested. It has been found that anode supported solid oxide fuel cell (AS-SOFC) with Ni/YSZ cermet anode can tolerate up to 1 ppm H₂S and up to 10 ppm HCl without significant performance degradation.      

以活性炭为燃料的固体氧化物燃料电池(英文)

采用注浆成型法制备了管状电解质支撑的固体氧化物燃料电池(SOFC),电解质材料为YSZ,阳极和阴极材料都采用银.将活性炭不加任何气体直接用作电池的燃料.电池的有效面积为2.5cm2,在800℃时给出最大功率为16mW,其开路电压随温度的变化与理论结果一致.此电池在30mA的恒电流下连续稳定运行了37h,通过电化学反应消耗了加入电池中碳燃料的42%(w),证明了电池的工作是可以自维持的.与使用石墨燃料的SOFC相比,此电池的运行稳定性得到了明显的提高,因为活性炭比石墨具有大得多的微孔率和表面积.电池运行37h后很快衰减,燃料烧结和燃料量减少造成碳表面积减小可能是衰减的主要原因.电化学阻抗谱测试结果表明电池的极化电阻在电池的总损耗中占主导.通过对电池反应机理进行分析,认为发生在阳极/电解质界面的CO电化学氧化反应和发生在碳燃料表面的Boudouard反应构成的循环维持了电池的运行,因此通过添加促进上述两个反应的催化剂,可提高电池的性能.     

High temperature thermo-photocatalysis driven carbon removal in direct biogas fueled solid oxide fuel cells

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) can directly convert renewable biogas into electricity with high efficiency at high temperature, however the long-term stability of SOFCs is significantly affected by the carbon deposition on the anode during cell operation. Herein, we report a novel carbon removal approach by high temperature infrared light driven photocatalytic oxidation. Upon the comparison of electrochemical performance of Ni-YSZ anode and TiO₂ modified Ni-YSZ anode in the state-of-the-art single cell (Ni-YSZ/YSZ/LSCM), the modified anodes exhibit markedly improved peak powder density with simulated biogas fuel (70% CH₄+ 30% CO₂) at 850 °C with less coking after 40 h operation. The high activity and carbon deposition resistance of the modified anode is possibly attributed to the in situ generated hydroxyl radical from the reduced TiO_x powder under high temperature infrared light excitation, which is supported by detailed analysis of microstructural information of anodes and the powder-based thermo-photocatalytic experiments.     

Multi-Physics Modeling of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Fueled by Methane and Analysis of Carbon Deposition

Internal reformation of low steam methane fuel is important for the high e ciency and low cost operation of solid oxide fuel cell. Understanding and overcoming carbon deposition is crucial for the technology development. Here a multi-physics model is established for the relevant experimental cells. Balance of electrochemical potentials for the electrochemical reactions, generic rate expression for the methane steam reforming, dusty gas model in a form of Fick's model for anode gas transport are used in the model. Excellent agreement between the theoretical and experimental current-voltage relations is obtained, demonstrating the validity of the proposed theoretical model. The steam reaction order in low steam methane reforming reaction is found to be 1. Detailed information about the distributions of physical quantities is obtained by the numerical simulation. Carbon deposition is analyzed in detail and the mechanism for the coking inhibition by operating current is illustrated clearly. Two expressions of carbon activity are analyzed and found to be correct qualitatively, but not quantitatively. The role of anode diffusion layer on reducing the current threshold for carbon removal is also explained. It is noted that the current threshold reduction may be explained quantitatively with the carbon activity models that are only qualitatively correct.     

Multi-Physics Modeling Assisted Design of Non-Coking Anode for Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Fueled by Low Steam Methane

Internal reformation of low steam methane fuel is highly beneficial for improving the energy efficiency and reducing the system complexity and cost of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). However, anode coking for the Ni-based anode should be prevented before the technology becomes a reality. A multi-physics fully coupled model is employed to simulate the operations of SOFCs fueled by low steam methane. The multi-physics model produces I-V relations that are in excellent agreement with the experimental results. The multi-physics model and the experimental non-coking current density deduced kinetic carbon activity criterion are used to examine the effect of operating parameters and the anode diffusion barrier layer on the propensity of carbon deposition. The interplays among the fuel utilization ratio, current generation, thickness of the barrier layer and the cell operating voltage are revealed. It is demonstrated that a barrier layer of 400 μm thickness is an optimal and safe anode design to achieve high power density and non-coking operations. The anode structure design can be very useful for the development of high efficiency and low cost SOFC technology.     

Real-time determination of CO2 production and estimation of adsorbate coverage on a proton exchange membrane fuel cell under oscillatory operation

A number of fuel cell relevant reactions are known to undergo kinetic instabilities under certain conditions. The majority of the experiments in such systems have been performed in liquid electrolyte systems on half-cell setups. Results for proton exchange membrane fuel cells fed with H₂/CO mixtures at the anode show that there can be a range of gas flow rate and current density where spontaneous potential oscillations take place. Despite the recent developments in this area, there are still many mechanistic aspects underlying the emergence of electrochemical oscillations that remain unknown. In the present contribution, we report results on the CO₂ production during the oxidation of carbon monoxide-containing hydrogen in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, as measured by online mass spectrometry. By extensive fitting and careful consideration of the proposed mechanism, we were able to estimate the coverage of hydrogen and CO during the oscillations. As no other approach seems capable to probe the adsorbate coverage in an operando fuel cell, our analyses access experimental hidden information that can be of high value for fuel cell research.     

Effect of cosintering of anode–electrolyte bilayer on the fabrication of anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells

A comparative study is carried out on the effect of cosintering temperature of anode–electrolyte bilayer on the fabrication and cell performance of anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells from commercially available tape casting materials. It was found that the sintering conditions have profound effects on the anode characteristic and cell performance. For low cosintering temperature as low as 1,250 °C, the electrolyte is unable to sinter fully and forms a porous structure which leads to a reduced open-circuit potential and poor cell performance especially under low current output. For further increasing cosintering temperature to 1,350 °C, the cell performance was lower under low current operation. However, the cell performance turns out to be better than that of high-temperature cosintering under high current output. Although at temperature as high as 1,500 °C the cell performs better than that of low temperature cosintering, the trend turn out to be reverse for high current operating due to less anode surface area resulting from overagglomeration of anode layer. An optimal cosintering temperature of 1,350–1,450 °C is recommended for commercially available anode–electrolyte bilayer of anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells.     

A new carbon fuel cell with high power output by integrating with in situ catalytic reverse Boudouard reaction

Solid carbon was investigated as the fuel for an intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (IT-SOFC). An innovative, indirect operating method involving internal catalytic gasification of carbon to gaseous carbon monoxide via the reverse Boudouard reaction (C(s) + CO₂(g) → 2CO(g)) was proposed. The carbon gasification reaction rate was greatly enhanced by adopting Fe_mO_n–M_xO (M = Li, K, Ca) as a catalyst. A peak power density of ～297 mW cm^?2 was achieved at 850 °C for an anode-supported SOFC with scandium-stabilized zirconia electrolyte and a La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃ cathode by applying a catalyst-loaded, activated carbon as fuel. This peak power density was only modestly lower than that obtained using gaseous hydrogen as the fuel.     

Polymer-Supported Liquid Layer Electrolyzer Enabled Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to CO with High Energy Efficiency

The electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to carbon monoxide (CO) is a favorable approach to reduce CO₂ emission while converting excess sustainable energy to important chemical feedstocks. At high current density (>100 mA cm⁻²), low energy efficiency (EE) and unaffordable cell cost limit the industrial application of conventional CO₂ electrolyzers. Thus, a crucial and urgent task is to design a new type of CO₂ electrolyzer that can work efficiently at high current density. Here we report a polymer-supported liquid layer (PSL) electrolyzer using polypropylene non-woven fabric as a separator between anode and cathode. Ag based cathode was fed with humid CO₂ and potassium hydroxide was fed to earth-abundant NiFe-based anode. In this configuration, the PSL provided high-pH condition for the cathode reaction and reduced the cell resistance, achieving a high full cell EE over 66 % at 100 mA cm⁻².     

Improvement of the stability of NiO–YSZ anode material for solid oxide fuel cell

Improvement of long-term stability of 40vol.%NiO–60vol.% yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) anode material in reducing atmosphere and under exposure to thermal shock through the modification of vacancy concentration and pore shape has been investigated for a solid oxide fuel cell. We varied the amount of Y₂O₃ additives from 8 to 10 mol% in YSZ and the type of carbon pore former, from plated activated carbon to spherical carbon black, to improve the strength and the stability of porous NiO–YSZ anode materials. Modifications by varying the amount of Y₂O₃ additives and carbon pore former result in a highly stable anode, even upon exposure to a reducing atmosphere for 1,200 h. In particular, the strengths of the new anode materials are markedly improved at the same porosity level. Higher strengths do not degrade during a longtime durability test in a reducing atmosphere or upon thermal shock testing. The relatively smaller degradation of electrical conductivity of the new anode material is discussed in terms of the possibility of suppression of the disconnectivity of Ni phases during operation of a solid oxide fuel cell.     

A Direct Formaldehyde Fuel Cell for CO2-Emission Free Co-generation of Electrical Energy and Valuable Chemical/Hydrogen

Converting carbon-based molecular fuels into electricity efficiently and cleanly without emitting CO₂ remains a challenge. Conventional fuel cells using noble metals as anode catalysts often suffer performance degradation due to CO poisoning and a host of problems associated with CO₂ production. This study provides a CO₂-emission-free direct formaldehyde fuel cell. It enables a flow of electricity while producing H₂ and valuable formate. Unlike conventional carbon-based molecules electrooxidation, formaldehyde 1-electron oxidation is performed on the Cu anode with high selectivity, thus generating formate and H₂ without undergoing CO₂ pathway. In addition, the fuel cell produces 0.62 Nm³ H₂ and 53 mol formate per 1 kWh of electricity generated, with an open circuit voltage of up to 1 V and a peak power density of 350 mW cm⁻². This study puts forward a zero-carbon solution for the efficient utilization of carbon-based molecule fuels that generates electricity, hydrogen and valuable chemicals in synchronization.     

A direct-methane solid oxide fuel cell with a double-layer anode

A tubular anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell with a double-layer anode for the direct conversion of CH₄ has been prepared and operated at 800 °C successfully. The double-layer anode was composed of NiO–YSZ and CoO–NiO–SDC acting as supporting layer and active reforming layer, respectively. At 800 °C, a maximum power density of 350 mW cm⁻² was obtained with CH₄ as fuel and air as oxidant. The time-dependent impedance spectra of the tubular cell were examined and discussed. No carbon deposition was observed on the surface of the anode when the cell was operated at a constant current density of 250 mA cm⁻².     

Metal‐Doped Nitrogenated Carbon as an Efficient Catalyst for Direct CO2 Electroreduction to CO and Hydrocarbons

This study explores the kinetics, mechanism, and active sites of the CO₂ electroreduction reaction (CO2RR) to syngas and hydrocarbons on a class of functionalized solid carbon‐based catalysts. Commercial carbon blacks were functionalized with nitrogen and Fe and/or Mn ions using pyrolysis and acid leaching. The resulting solid powder catalysts were found to be active and highly CO selective electrocatalysts in the electroreduction of CO₂ to CO/H₂ mixtures outperforming a low‐area polycrystalline gold benchmark. Unspecific with respect to the nature of the metal, CO production is believed to occur on nitrogen functionalities in competition with hydrogen evolution. Evidence is provided that sufficiently strong interaction between CO and the metal enables the protonation of CO and the formation of hydrocarbons. Our results highlight a promising new class of low‐cost, abundant electrocatalysts for synthetic fuel production from CO₂.     

二甲醚的电催化氧化反应

 考察了负载于镓酸镧基电解质上的镍电极与镍－钐掺杂氧化铈复合电极电催化二甲醚氧化反应的特性．结果表明，反应的主要产物均为CO，H2和CH4，同时生成少量完全氧化的产物H2O和CO2．在开路电位下二甲醚发生裂解反应，生成的CO，H2和CH4三种主要产物的比例接近于1．在有电泵氧存在下，二甲醚的电催化氧化反应强烈地依赖于阳极及电解质材料的组成．Ni／La0．9Sr0．1Ga0．8Mg0．2O3界面上发生的主反应是二甲醚的部分氧化，且存在有严重的积碳现象．电极中掺入SDC（15％Sm3＋－掺杂的CeO2）后，二甲醚完全氧化性能明显增强；随着电流的增大，氢的生成速率显著减小，并生成大量的H2O．采用掺钴镓酸镧基电解质后，Ni－SDC主要表现为催化二甲醚部分氧化反应，且显著抑制了积碳的发生．Ni－SDC／La0．8Sr0．2Ga0．8－Mg0．11Co0．09O3上二甲醚电催化氧化反应的主要产物为1∶1的CO和H2．掺钴电解质引起Ni－SDC具有特殊的催化性能，可能与电解质中p型电导的存在有关．