Fuel Cells

19 Pages 4739 Words

al current. The materials used for electrolytes have their best conductance only within certain temperature ranges and thus other materials must be used in order to take advantage of the temperature increase (2).
The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) which operate at the highest temperature (1000 - 1100 degrees Celsius) are not the most reactive because of the low conductivity of its ionic conducting electrolyte (yttria-stabilized zirconia). (Fig. 4) Many advances have been made in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) research to increase the chemical to electrical efficiency to 50%, but because of the conductivity and the heat, it has been used mainly in large power plants which can use the cogeneration of steam for additional power. Because of the high temperature, the cell requires no expensive catalysts, or additional humidification and fuel treatment equipment which excludes the cost of these items. The primary drawback to this type of fuel cell is the cost of the containment which requires exotic ceramics which must have simil...