Microtubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (mSOFCs)

Abstract

From the original invention of mSOFCs twenty years ago, a number of innovations and applications are now proving successful. The key problem initially was avoiding thermal shock damage and that has been achieved with better quality ceramic extrusions and smaller tubes. Improved breakdown of aggregates during the ceramic processing increased the strength, because high shear stress broke down the agglomerate size during the plastic shearing processes. Moving to thin walled, small diameter tubes gave further shock resistance, with start-up times of 10 seconds to 10 minutes achieved. The electrochemical performance of available tubes gives about 500mWcm -2 which is satisfactory for many applications. Typical applications for 250We systems are unmanned air systems, combined heat and power using liquid propane, LPG or LNG in recreational vehicles, and truck-cab auxiliary power. This paper shows that market credibility can be approached despite the high early manufacturing costs.