Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FleXelL (Reversible solid oxide cell development for the utilisation of alternative fuels and hydrogen strategic production)
Reporting period: 2021-08-01 to 2023-07-31
The flexible cell project (flexell) had as its main scope to develop a proof-of-concept for a highly efficient energy converter based on ceramic reactors that can be reversed into an electrolyser whenever needed.
The materials had to be capable of converting liquid and gaseous fuels such as ethanol, methane, or natural gas into energy, but also, steam and electricity into hydrogen for strategic reserve purposes or simply for renewable energy surplus storage.
Operating with liquid fuels will allow storage of fuel onboard long-distance transports (e.g. ships, aircraft) hindering the issues with space. The development of high. temperature electrolysers will enable green hydrogen production with increased efficiency.
To achieve the scope successfully we divided the work into 5 high-level research objectives :
RO1: To develop a fuel electrode catalyst set for operation with direct unreformed ethanol, methane, or propane or with hydrogen, avoiding coking and microstructural destruction (this is the anode in SOFC operation).
RO2: To integrate these materials into a planar, fuel-electrode-supported reversible solid oxide cell.
RO3: To develop a reliable test rig fuel supply adapted to ethanol efficient evaporation, ready for rSOC testing with efficient steam evaporation and outlet product quantification by mass spectroscopy and gas chromatography.
RO4: To prove the viability and long-term stability of the concept through extensive testing on hydrogen, methane, propane, and ethanol as fuels.
RO5: To prove the reversibility of the cell towards hydrogen production upon steam injection and verify any prospects of fuel electrode carbon removal in doing so.
The materials had to be capable of converting liquid and gaseous fuels such as ethanol, methane, or natural gas into energy, but also, steam and electricity into hydrogen for strategic reserve purposes or simply for renewable energy surplus storage.
Operating with liquid fuels will allow storage of fuel onboard long-distance transports (e.g. ships, aircraft) hindering the issues with space. The development of high. temperature electrolysers will enable green hydrogen production with increased efficiency.
To achieve the scope successfully we divided the work into 5 high-level research objectives :
RO1: To develop a fuel electrode catalyst set for operation with direct unreformed ethanol, methane, or propane or with hydrogen, avoiding coking and microstructural destruction (this is the anode in SOFC operation).
RO2: To integrate these materials into a planar, fuel-electrode-supported reversible solid oxide cell.
RO3: To develop a reliable test rig fuel supply adapted to ethanol efficient evaporation, ready for rSOC testing with efficient steam evaporation and outlet product quantification by mass spectroscopy and gas chromatography.
RO4: To prove the viability and long-term stability of the concept through extensive testing on hydrogen, methane, propane, and ethanol as fuels.
RO5: To prove the reversibility of the cell towards hydrogen production upon steam injection and verify any prospects of fuel electrode carbon removal in doing so.
The scope of the flexell project was to develop a ceramic material for electrodes of high temperature fuel cells. Given the context of the energy transition, this cell was meant to be capable of operating with alternative fuels such as biogas or ethanol and work reversibly as an electrolyser. The project spanned 24 months and more than 3,800 hours of activities were accounted for.
In the course of the project, 7 different powdered catalyst materials were developed along with 27 different tape casting slurries, 6 screen printing inks and 8 spin coating suspensions. For all these ceramic materials, 12 different sintering treatments were recorded. All this resulted in 20 distinct cell configurations. Every formulation and process developed within the flexell project was recorded.
We were able to demonstrate in conferences that our homemade cells could deliver over 700 mW.cm-2 of power density as fuel cells and operate at high efficiency as an electrolyser raising current densities of over 2,100 mA.cm-2 at low voltages (1.25 V). The project outcomes rendered 6 manuscripts (with 1 already accepted for publication) along with a range of standardised test rigs added to the group.
Furthermore, all 8 training objectives foresaw for the project were realised and accounted for over 80 hours, including techniques such as tape casting, spin coating, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry, and dilatometry, amongst others, as detailed in this report. Additionally, a one-week placement at the University of St Andrews, under the supervision of Prof. John Irvine, resulted in intensive training on the Focused Ion Beam and Volume Reconstruction technique, and the beginning of a fruitful professional relationship between Prof. Irvine’s group and me.
As mentioned, the results of the project were communicated and presented at prestigious conferences of the field such as the European Fuel Cell Forum, in Lucerne, Switzerland in 2022, and the 18th Symposium in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells of the Electrochemical Society in Boston, US in 2023. To communicate results from the project and to raise awareness from the public about climate change concerns, the website of the project was put live in its own domain at flexell.uk.
Concerning my career development, I had the opportunity to be in close touch with teaching and supervising students (4 master's and 2 PhD) being responsible for the high temperature fuel cells module and for lab demonstration activities. Along with my supervisor, we managed to secure funds from the EPSRC to establish a Global Centre on
Hydrogen Production Technologies (the HyPT). The HyPT is a big consortium of 19 universities across the UK, US, Australia, Canada, and Egypt that will address low-cost large-scale hydrogen production with net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases enabling decarbonisation of many energy-intensive and hard-to-abate industries such as ammonia, steel, cement, aluminium, transportation, among many others. This project will enable me to keep my post for at least 5 years.
In summary, the project’s activities were able to generate valuable products in the form of high-impact manuscripts that will be soon submitted for publication, along with new processes, equipment, and materials for the Centre for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Research Group of the University of Birmingham. In terms of training and career progression, I am now on the verge of starting a new project that offers not only technical and professional capabilities but also a valuable network with leading researchers in the hydrogen field.
In the course of the project, 7 different powdered catalyst materials were developed along with 27 different tape casting slurries, 6 screen printing inks and 8 spin coating suspensions. For all these ceramic materials, 12 different sintering treatments were recorded. All this resulted in 20 distinct cell configurations. Every formulation and process developed within the flexell project was recorded.
We were able to demonstrate in conferences that our homemade cells could deliver over 700 mW.cm-2 of power density as fuel cells and operate at high efficiency as an electrolyser raising current densities of over 2,100 mA.cm-2 at low voltages (1.25 V). The project outcomes rendered 6 manuscripts (with 1 already accepted for publication) along with a range of standardised test rigs added to the group.
Furthermore, all 8 training objectives foresaw for the project were realised and accounted for over 80 hours, including techniques such as tape casting, spin coating, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry, and dilatometry, amongst others, as detailed in this report. Additionally, a one-week placement at the University of St Andrews, under the supervision of Prof. John Irvine, resulted in intensive training on the Focused Ion Beam and Volume Reconstruction technique, and the beginning of a fruitful professional relationship between Prof. Irvine’s group and me.
As mentioned, the results of the project were communicated and presented at prestigious conferences of the field such as the European Fuel Cell Forum, in Lucerne, Switzerland in 2022, and the 18th Symposium in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells of the Electrochemical Society in Boston, US in 2023. To communicate results from the project and to raise awareness from the public about climate change concerns, the website of the project was put live in its own domain at flexell.uk.
Concerning my career development, I had the opportunity to be in close touch with teaching and supervising students (4 master's and 2 PhD) being responsible for the high temperature fuel cells module and for lab demonstration activities. Along with my supervisor, we managed to secure funds from the EPSRC to establish a Global Centre on
Hydrogen Production Technologies (the HyPT). The HyPT is a big consortium of 19 universities across the UK, US, Australia, Canada, and Egypt that will address low-cost large-scale hydrogen production with net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases enabling decarbonisation of many energy-intensive and hard-to-abate industries such as ammonia, steel, cement, aluminium, transportation, among many others. This project will enable me to keep my post for at least 5 years.
In summary, the project’s activities were able to generate valuable products in the form of high-impact manuscripts that will be soon submitted for publication, along with new processes, equipment, and materials for the Centre for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Research Group of the University of Birmingham. In terms of training and career progression, I am now on the verge of starting a new project that offers not only technical and professional capabilities but also a valuable network with leading researchers in the hydrogen field.
In this project, we were able to achieve high efficiencies under steam electrolysis (> 2 A.cm-2 at 1.25V). These results couldn't be matched so far from similar works in the literature and it was achieved with a different material from the state-of-the-art.
In addition to that, the project generated several valuable technical outputs like manuscripts, presentations, cell configurations, and test rig setup, which can be listed as follows:
Manuscripts:
- “Solid oxide cells a review on fuel electrodes materials operating with various fuels and under electrolysis mode”.
- “Electrochemical conversion of methane measured by anode out gas monitoring over Ce-Co-Cu anode electrocatalysts”.
- “Superior performance of ceria-nickel-based fuel electrode for flexibly fuelled solid oxide fuel cells and high temperature co-electrolysis”.
- “Improving the degradation behaviour and coking resistance of high-temperature fuel cells via surface modification using wet impregnation of metallic solutions”.
- “The effects of sintering temperature on the performance of lanthanum nickelate electrodes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells”.
- “Preparation of gadolinium-doped ceria barrier layer for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells by spin coating and evaluation of performance degradation by impedance analysis”. (This manuscript is still being written).
In addition to that, the project generated several valuable technical outputs like manuscripts, presentations, cell configurations, and test rig setup, which can be listed as follows:
Manuscripts:
- “Solid oxide cells a review on fuel electrodes materials operating with various fuels and under electrolysis mode”.
- “Electrochemical conversion of methane measured by anode out gas monitoring over Ce-Co-Cu anode electrocatalysts”.
- “Superior performance of ceria-nickel-based fuel electrode for flexibly fuelled solid oxide fuel cells and high temperature co-electrolysis”.
- “Improving the degradation behaviour and coking resistance of high-temperature fuel cells via surface modification using wet impregnation of metallic solutions”.
- “The effects of sintering temperature on the performance of lanthanum nickelate electrodes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells”.
- “Preparation of gadolinium-doped ceria barrier layer for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells by spin coating and evaluation of performance degradation by impedance analysis”. (This manuscript is still being written).