Descrizione del progetto
Componenti robusti ed economici per pile di celle a combustibile a ossidi solidi di nuova generazione
Tecnologie economiche ed efficienti per la conversione e lo stoccaggio dell’elettricità sono essenziali per consentire l’integrazione diffusa di energia eolica e solare nel mix energetico. Le celle a combustibile a ossidi solidi, celle elettrochimiche realizzate in ceramica, sono una tecnologia interessante per questo scopo. Tuttavia, sono necessarie notevoli riduzioni dei costi e maggiore robustezza per rendere questa tecnologia commercialmente valida. Il progetto LOWCOST-IC, finanziato dall’UE, si concentrerà sullo sviluppo di interconnessioni in acciaio inox robuste e a basso costo e strati di contatto catodici. Questi due componenti vengono utilizzati per collegare insieme diverse celle a ossidi solidi in una pila per una maggiore potenza, proprio come le batterie sono collegate insieme in serie.
Obiettivo
Lower costs and a better long-term stability are needed to accelerate commercialization of Solid Oxide Cell (SOC) technology. Among the enduring challenges is degradation related to the steel interconnect (IC) material and insufficient robustness of the contact between the IC and the cell. LOWCOST-IC will tackle these issues by developing, fabricating and demonstrating low-cost ICs and exceptionally tough contact layers for use in SOC stacks.
Novel robust contact layers, utilizing the concept of reactive oxidative bonding, will substantially improve the mechanical contact between the cell and the interconnect, while ensuring a low and stable area specific resistance.
The cost of SOC ICs will be reduced by combining cost-effective high volume steel grades with highly protective coatings. Large-scale mass manufacturing methods will be demonstrated for application of the coating by physical vapour deposition (PVD), for subsequent shaping of the ICs by hydroforming and finally for fast printing of contact layers by a drop-on-demand process. Novel computationally efficient stack models will together with hydroforming be customized to decrease the prototyping costs and thereby accelerate IC development.
The new interconnect steels, coatings and contact layers will be implemented in the SOC stacks of two commercial manufacturers and undergo extensive testing in an industrially relevant environment. Finally, the cost-effectiveness of the proposed production route will be assessed and compared with existing production routes to facilitate a fast market entry of the project innovations.
The overall effort will bring the technological solutions from their current TRL 3 to TRL 5. To achieve the optimum output, the LOWCOST-IC consortium comprises the entire interconnect and contact layer supply chain.
Campo scientifico
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
2800 Kongens Lyngby
Danimarca