Objective Objectives A main issue in reducing the cost of electricity produced by an SOFC is the durability of the SOFC stack. Other important aspects are the production cost per unit of cell area and the SOFC stack performance. Published data, and the partners' experience, show that the state-of-the art SOFC degradation rate is too high. It is widely believed that the degradation rate should be below 0.5 % per 1000 h. So far only Westinghouse has reported such results. However, the fabrication method used by Westinghouse is far too expensive. The objective of the proposed three-year project is the reduction of the cost of SOFC by improving the durability without increasing the production cost or decreasing the stack performance. This will be achieved through a better understanding of the fundamentals of the degradation processes of SOFC components, and through improved fabrication techniques of starting powders and ceramic cells, aiming at appropriate (rather than maximum) purity and quality levels of active components. Technical Approach In order to test the SOFC-stack durability, it is necessary to undertake accelerated testing. It is believed that many of the causes for the degradation of SOFC-stack performance are due to solid state reactions. This may be either chemical reactions forming deleterious products at the interface between components, undesirable diffusion of elements from one component to another, or growth of the particles of the electrodes resulting in too coarse structures. It is also necessary to study the degradation rates at different temperatures including the operating temperature. As all the mentioned processes are thermally activated it is possible from such data sets to predict the durability with reasonable accuracy. In cases of chemical reactions they may be very sensitive to impurities. Therefore it is important to perform reactivity experiments, thermodynamic measurements and modelling. Expected Achievements and Exploitation The measurable objectives are: A voltage degradation lower than 1 % per 1000 h at steady state operation with 300 mA/cm2, and at reasonable temperature in the range between 800 and 1000 °C. The internal area specific resistance should not be above 1 cm2 in a single stack element (i.e. a cell with interconnects on both sides) tested in simulated reforming gas. Fuel utilisation should be at least 80 %. A thermal cycling resistance resulting in less than 0.5 % degradation per thermal cycle from operating to room temperature and back to operating conditions. A further objective of bringing this Consortium together is the positive influence of co-operation and exchange of ideas which may help the European industry to strengthen its competitiveness on the future SOFC-market. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsnatural scienceschemical sciences Programme(s) FP4-NNE-JOULE C - Specific programme for research and technological development, including demonstration in the field of non-nuclear energy, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 0203 - Energy industry and fuel cells Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator RISOE NATIONAL LABORATORY Address Frederiksborgvej 399 Roskilde Denmark See on map Links Website Opens in new window EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (9) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all DORNIER GMBH Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address 31,an der bundesstrasse 31 88090 Immenstaad See on map ENERGY RESEARCH CENTRE OF THE NETHERLANDS Netherlands EU contribution € 0,00 Address Westerduinweg 3 1755 ZG Petten See on map Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Wilhelm-johnen-straße 52425 Jülich See on map HALDOR TOPSOEE A/S Denmark EU contribution € 0,00 Address 55,nymoellevej 55 2800 Lyngby See on map IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Royal school of mines, prince consort road SW7 2BP London See on map Rolls Royce plc United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Moor lane DE24 8BJ Derby See on map Siemens AG Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address 91050 Erlangen See on map Statoil R&D Centre Norway EU contribution € 0,00 Address Postuttak 7005 Trondheim See on map UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Norway EU contribution € 0,00 Address 21,gaustadalleen 21 0371 Oslo See on map
