Dynamic operation of metal-supported solid oxide electrolysis cells

Publication Type

Journal Article

Date Published

02/2024

Authors

DOI

Abstract

Symmetric-structure metal-supported solid oxide(link is external) fuel cells and electrolysis cells(link is external) (MS-SOFCs, MS-SOECs) offer several advantages over conventional solid oxide cells, including the use of inexpensive materials, high mechanical strength(link is external), and rapid ramp-up ability. Aggressive operation of MS-SOCs in fuel cell mode is well-established, including extremely fast start-up, redox tolerance, and imbalanced pressure. Here, we extend dynamic operation to MS-SOCs in SOEC mode with high steam content for both small button cells and a large rectangular cell, including: steam cycling, thermal cycling, redox cycling and power cycling. Steam cycling entailed switching between 3:97 and 50:50 steam:hydrogen ratio. For thermal cycling, the temperature was rapidly varied between 150 °C and 700 °C for 50 cycles. Redox cycling involved switching the steam side gas between 50 % humidified H2 and 50 % humidified N2 for 5 cycles. Power cycling was performed by operating the cell under variable current density(link is external), resulting in cell voltage(link is external) between 1.3 V and 2.8 V. Degradation rates(link is external) for each testing strategy were compared to a baseline cell, and found to be similar. The excellent tolerance to dynamic operation increases confidence that MS-SOECs will be compatible with dynamic or intermittent renewable resources(link is external).

Journal

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

Volume

59

Year of Publication

2024

URL

ISSN

03603199

Organization

Research Areas

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