Demonstration of a Liquid-Tin Anode Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell (LTA-SOFC) Operating from Biodiesel Fuel

Abstract

In this paper, the authors present the first demonstration of a liquid-tin anode solid-oxide fuel cell (LTA-SOFC) operating on pure biodiesel (B100) prepared via base-catalyzed transesterification of virgin and waste cooking oils. The LTA-SOFC was able to convert the biodiesel to electricity at commercially viable power densities, i.e., greater than 100 mW cm−2. The peak power for each cell was 3.5 W over an active area of 30 cm−2, which translates to a power density of 117 mW cm−2 and current density of 217 mA cm−2. The peak power densities correspond to ∼80% fuel use at the liquid-tin anode surface and overall cell efficiencies of >40%. These findings demonstrate the flexibility in operating a solid-oxide fuel cell capable of internal reforming from a blend of petroleum- and biomass-derived diesels for greater resource flexibility. Cells were operated for short times (∼4.5 h), owing to the experimental nature of the balance of plant. Results support future efforts in developing an efficient balance-of-plant system for demonstrating long-term (>1000 h) power generation from biodiesel using the LTA-SOFC design.