New Research Directions for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Science and Engineering
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Materials
Abstract
The efficient generation of electrical power is a high priority for the developed world in order to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and thus mitigate the effects of global warming. Fuel cells offer the promise of increased generation efficiency in applications encompassing large (> 1MW) stationary electrical power, small (< 10 kW) Combined Heat and Power units for applications such as domestic use, and transport (road vehicles, ships, trains and aircraft). Of the many fuel cell types, Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) have the greatest flexibility in fuel type. They can work efficiently with existing hydrocarbon fossil fuels and carbon-neutral alternatives (such as bio-ethanol) and in addition they are easily fuelled by hydrogen, compatible with the introduction of the hydrogen economy. There is strong research and development interest in SOFCs world wide and the companies developing them have achieved impressive technical success. However, commercialisation on a large scale remains elusive and the key barriers are recognised to be durability and cost (to which contribute: performance, materials, manufacturing and system simplicity, especially with regard to running on practical carbon-containing fuels).Through this Platform Grant, the SOFC team at Imperial College aims to build on its past success in this field and explore new directions to address some of the fundamental issues underlying the problems of performance and durability of SOFCs. The thrust of the work is to build capability in new approaches and techniques which will be developed and assessed for their ability to improve knowledge of the underpinning science and engineering. The most promising avenues will then be expanded into focused individual research projects outside the Platform Grant. An integrated approach to the multi-scale modelling (from atoms to systems) of SOFCs will be initiated so that new materials or designs can be identified and their overall impact assessed without having to build complete systems. New techniques will be developed to interrogate working SOFCs and components (in order to understand more details of the electrochemical reactions taking place) and the complex microstructures of the porous composite materials that are used as electrodes. These will be supplemented by advances in techniques to study electrical and mass transport in the materials and across interfaces within, or between, them. The information will be used to guide the development of materials and structures with improved performance and durability (long term ageing, thermo-mechanical stability and simpler operation with carbon-containing fuels). In addition a new application area for SOFCs will be explored, namely: micro-engineered SOFCs for low power applications, such as electronic devices.These goals will be pursued through collaborations with leading international research groups in the UK, Europe, USA and Japan and with the UK SOFC industry.
Publications
Seymour I
(2012)
Anisotropic oxygen diffusion in PrBaCo2O5.5 double perovskites
in Solid State Ionics
Shearing P
(2011)
Using Synchrotron X-Ray Nano-CT to Characterize SOFC Electrode Microstructures in Three-Dimensions at Operating Temperature
in Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters
Shearing P
(2013)
Towards intelligent engineering of SOFC electrodes: a review of advanced microstructural characterisation techniques
in International Materials Reviews
Shearing P
(2010)
X-ray nano computerised tomography of SOFC electrodes using a focused ion beam sample-preparation technique
in Journal of the European Ceramic Society
Shearing P
(2010)
Microstructural analysis of a solid oxide fuel cell anode using focused ion beam techniques coupled with electrochemical simulation
in Journal of Power Sources
Shearing P
(2010)
Analysis of triple phase contact in Ni-YSZ microstructures using non-destructive X-ray tomography with synchrotron radiation
in Electrochemistry Communications
Shearing P
(2012)
Exploring microstructural changes associated with oxidation in Ni-YSZ SOFC electrodes using high resolution X-ray computed tomography
in Solid State Ionics
Somalu M
(2011)
Rheological Studies of Nickel/Scandia-Stabilized-Zirconia Screen Printing Inks for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode Fabrication
in Journal of the American Ceramic Society
Tarancón A
(2010)
Advances in layered oxide cathodes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells
in Journal of Materials Chemistry
Wang X
(2011)
Microstructure evolution in thin zirconia films: Experimental observation and modelling
in Acta Materialia
Description | The efficient generation of electrical power is a high priority for the developed world in order to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and thus mitigate the effects of global warming. Fuel cells offer the promise of increased generation efficiency in applications encompassing large (> 1MW) stationary electrical power, small (< 10 kW) Combined Heat and Power units for applications such as domestic use, and transport (road vehicles, ships, trains and aircraft). Of the many fuel cell types, Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) have the greatest flexibility in fuel type. They can work efficiently with existing hydrocarbon fossil fuels and carbon-neutral alternatives (such as bio-ethanol) and in addition they are easily fuelled by hydrogen, compatible with the introduction of the hydrogen economy. There is strong research and development interest in SOFCs world-wide and the companies developing them have achieved impressive technical success. However, commercialisation on a large scale remains elusive and the key barriers are recognised to be durability and cost (to which contribute: performance, materials, manufacturing and system simplicity, especially with regard to running on practical carbon-containing fuels). Through this Platform Grant, the SOFC team at Imperial College has explored new directions to address some of the fundamental issues underlying the problems of performance and durability of SOFCs. The thrust of the work has been to maintain the core structure of the team and build capability in new approaches and techniques for improving knowledge of the underpinning science and engineering. A major theme has been to explore new techniques for characterising fuel cell materials with particular emphasis on in situ studies under realistic operating conditions. We have exploited national and international central facilities for neutron diffraction and synchrotron radiation to enable this. On the laboratory scale we have undertaken proof of concept experiments in the application of Raman spectroscopy to SOFC materials in situ with a particular focus on understanding degradation mechanisms such as sulphur poisoning and carbon deposition. Another major theme has been to develop both ex-situ and in situ techniques for 3D characterisation of the microstructure of porous fuel cell electrodes and to use these in computer simulations of their properties. This has enabled us to gain a deeper understanding of how the microstructure affects the electrode performance and how this changes over long periods of cell operation. More recently we have chosen to deploy some of the platform grant funding to explore applications of oxide ion materials outside of the domain of SOFC materials and into that of novel concepts around energy storage based on these materials. This work has resulted in a recent patent filing (P55723GB). This sort of higher risk, proof of concept research was only made possible through the flexibility of platform grant funding, allowing us to leverage our understanding of SOFC materials to create a novel high temperature metal-air battery. Similarly, the platform grant has been used to initiate research on the constrained sintering of ceramic films, which is particularly important for the production of leak-free supported fuel cell electrolyte membranes as well as defect-free films in other applications, and atomic scale modelling of oxygen diffusion in potential new materials. The Platform Grant has allowed us to undertake higher risk and more speculative experiments and analysis than would have been possible by conventional funding mechanisms. The most promising avenues have been expanded into focused individual research projects outside the Platform Grant with a diverse range of funding agencies (from the UK and internationally) and industry. |
Exploitation Route | This research is directly relevant to industrial applications in electricity generation, combined heat and power, hydrogen production, clean coal technology and energy storage. The results have enabled a wide range of follow-on projects funded by EPSRC, the European Framework Programme and industry in the areas of fuel cells, gas separation membranes, electrolysers and batteries. |
Sectors | Energy |
Description | Supported 19 different individual researchers and 2 research officers during gaps in their funding from other sources which enabled the team to maintain its critical size. This also enabled the team to leverage the Platform funding and resulted in obtaining a total of £14.8m from a variety of sources, including EPSRC, STFC, EU and international commercial enterprises over the grant period. |
First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
Sector | Energy |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | EU Framework |
Amount | £199,870 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 325278 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 04/2013 |
End | 10/2017 |
Description | EU Framework |
Amount | £180,750 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 256885 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 01/2011 |
End | 12/2013 |
Description | Laboratory refurbishment |
Amount | £286,100 (GBP) |
Organisation | The Wolfson Foundation |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2008 |
End | 01/2009 |
Description | Supergen |
Amount | £366,747 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/G030995/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2009 |
End | 02/2014 |
Description | UK/India collaboration |
Amount | £154,570 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/I037016/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2011 |
End | 02/2015 |
Description | Ceres Power |
Organisation | Ceres Power |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Guidance on improvement of fuel cell performance |
Collaborator Contribution | Details of requirements for better performance and supply of materials. |
Impact | Improved electrode performance, improved electrolyte quality and reliability. |
Description | Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Ltd |
Organisation | Rolls Royce Group Plc |
Department | Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Limited |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Evaluation of new and existing materials for fuel cells |
Collaborator Contribution | Guidance for required improvements in performance and supply of materials and designs. |
Impact | Improvements to performance and reliability of fuel cell technology |
Start Year | 2007 |