SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Capstone Final Report

SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS

Written by:
Soukaïna Jazouli

Subervised by:
Dr. Asmae Khaldoun

Submitted on: 23rd November 2016

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It’s with a grateful heart that I would like to express my sincere and huge gratitude to

everyone who helped me realize this project. First of all, I would like to thank my my supervisor

Dr. Asmae Khaldoun for her continuous help, advice, and supervising throughout the whole

semester. I would also like to thank her for giving me the unique opportunity to work on this

project about solid oxide fuel cells. Moreover, I want to thank Dr. Alj for the clear instructions

and also Al Akhawayn University for giving us the opportunity to sharpen our research and

creative mind by allowing us to do a capstone course where we will use all what we have

learned during our curriculum in Al Akhawayn University. Finally, I want to express my

sentiment of gratitude toward my family and friends for the continuous support and

encouragement they have given me.

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 Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. 3

Figures and Tables ............................................................................................................. 6

Abstract ............................................................................................................................ 8

Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 9

STEEPLE Analysis ............................................................................................................... 9

i. Societal .................................................................................................................................. 9
ii. Technological ........................................................................................................................ 9
iii. Economical .......................................................................................................................... 10
iv. Ethical ................................................................................................................................. 10
v. Political................................................................................................................................ 10
vi. Legal .................................................................................................................................... 10
vii. Environmental ................................................................................................................ 10
a. What is Solid Oxide Fuel cell? ........................................................................................... 11
b. What are the component of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell? ........................................................... 12
i. Anode .................................................................................................................................. 12
ii. Cathode ............................................................................................................................... 12
iii. Electrolyte ........................................................................................................................... 13
c. Energy Efficiency .............................................................................................................. 13
d. Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Designs ............................................................................................ 14
iv. Tubular design..................................................................................................................... 15
v. Planar Design ...................................................................................................................... 16
e. Real Life Usage and Installation ........................................................................................ 17
i. Cars ..................................................................................................................................... 17
ii. Buses ................................................................................................................................... 18

Materials and Structure of the Components of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell................................ 19

1. Structures of the Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell ................................................................... 19
i. Self-supporting Structure .................................................................................................... 19
ii. External Supporting Structure ............................................................................................ 20
2. Materials of the Components of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell ...................................................... 21
a. Structure of The Anode ....................................................................................................... 21
b. Temperature and Porosity .................................................................................................. 21

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 c. Porosity and Thickness ........................................................................................................ 24

Manufacturing Process of an Electrode-Electrolyte Assembly .......................................... 25

Engineering Study ........................................................................................................... 30

a. Anode re-oxidation .......................................................................................................... 30
vi. Particles sizes ...................................................................................................................... 31
vii. Sintering Temperature ................................................................................................... 31
viii. Ni coated Pore-Former ................................................................................................... 31
ix. Porosity ............................................................................................................................... 31
b. Sealing Problems .............................................................................................................. 32
c. Carbon buildup ................................................................................................................ 33
d. Increase power density of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell ................................................................ 34

Cost Analysis ................................................................................................................... 35

a. Materials Composition and their Prices ............................................................................ 35
b. Manufacturing Price of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell .................................................................... 39
c. Total Price of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell ................................................................................... 39
Moroccan Context ........................................................................................................... 41
Conclusion and Future Work ........................................................................................... 42
References ...................................................................................................................... 43

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 Figures and Tables

Figure 1: SOFC ........................................................................................................................ 12

Figure 2: Estimated Efficiency of Different Power Generation Systems ................................ 14

Figure 3: Tubular SOFC .......................................................................................................... 15

Figure 4: Tubular SOFC .......................................................................................................... 16

Figure 5: Conceptual design of a SOFC based car .................................................................. 17

Figure 6: Conceptual design of a SOFC based bus.................................................................. 18

Figure 7: Self-supported SOFC ............................................................................................... 19

Figure 8: External Supported SOFC ........................................................................................ 20

Figure 9: Images of NiO/YSZ composites (5 wt% carbon black) sintered at 1300 °C : samples

(a) 30B, (b) 40B, (c) 50B and (d) 60B ............................................................................. 22

Figure 10: Images of carbon black-free NiO/YSZ sintered at 1400 °C : samples (a) 30B, (b)

40B, (c) 50B and (d) 60B................................................................................................. 22

Figure 11: Images of NiO/YSZ composites (10 wt% carbon black) sintered at 1300 °C :

samples (a) 30B, (b) 40B, (c) 50B and (d) 60B ............................................................... 23

Figure 12: Porosities of NiO/YSZ composites (a) 5 wt% carbon black and (b) 10 wt% carbon

black sintered at different temperatures ........................................................................... 23

Figure 13: Graph Thickness vs. Porosity ................................................................................. 24

Figure 14: Schematic of an anode-supported cell .................................................................... 25

Figure 15: Process Flow for Making a Functional Cell ........................................................... 27

Figure 16: Tape Casting Process............................................................................................. 28

Figure 17: Screen Printing Process .......................................................................................... 29

Figure 18: Figure: 18 Microstructural changes during a RedOx process in NI-YSZ based

anodes .............................................................................................................................. 30

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Figure 19: Expansion vs Porosity of an Anode-Supported Design ......................................... 32

Figure 20: Different situations in which carbon buildup can lead to deactivation. ................. 33

Figure 21: Price of Different Types of Vehicles ...................................................................... 40

Table 1: Potential performance of SOFC operating at 1000 ° C ............................................. 15

Table 2: Comparison between some properties of Planar and Tubular SOFC [5]. ................. 16

Table 3: Characteristics of different structures of planar cells ................................................ 20

Table 4: Materials, thickness, and process of each SOFC component. ................................... 26

Table 5: Slurry composition of the Anode Layer. ................................................................... 35

Table 6: Slurry composition of the Anode/Electrolyte Layer. ................................................. 36

Table 7: Slurry composition of the Electrolyte Layer. ............................................................ 36

Table 8: Slurry composition of the Cathode/Electrolyte Layer. .............................................. 37

Table 9: Slurry composition of the Cathode Layer. ................................................................. 37

Table 10: Anode-Supported Cell Material Prices .................................................................... 38

Table 11: Stack Manufacturing Cost Summary ....................................................................... 39

Table 12: Total Price of the Materials Used for 1000 units ..................................................... 39

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 Abstract

The objective of this capstone project is to understand deeply how solid oxide fuel cells

technology works. A solid oxide fuel cell is a device that produces electricity directly from

oxidizing hydrogen. It has zero emissions, which makes it an eco-friendly technology. There

are five main types of fuel cells: Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell, Alkaline Fuel Cell, Alkaline

Fuel Cell, Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell. We chose to work on the

solid oxide fuel cell because it operates at a very high temperature (above 800°C) which allow

a fuel flexibility and a high electrical efficiency that both contributes to a better economy. But,

operating at extremely high temperature creates some engineering challenges especially for the

materials used. This capstone project is a literature review that shows that:

Ø The best design to be used is the planar solid oxide fuel cell

Ø The best material to be used for the anode is the NI-YSZ cermet.

Ø The best structure is the anode-supported structure

Ø Solutions to drawbacks

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 Introduction

Nowadays, green technology has significantly advanced that individuals have now

many investment choices regarding renewable energies which will allow them to reduce their

energy bill and be environmentally responsible. One of the most promising devises is the Solid

Oxide Fuel Cell. SOFC is a device that generates electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel. It

is used for its high efficiency (60%), durability, low cost, fuel flexibility, and low emissions.

The main issue of SOFC is the high operating temperature that influence negatively the

performance of the device. The aim of this project is to study the solid oxide fuel cells

components deeply to understand the factors that affects its performance and then be able to

chose appropriate components that will enhance the performance of SOFC even under very

high operating temperature and also to do a cost analysis study.

STEEPLE Analysis

Steeple analysis is a strategic planning tool that takes into consideration seven factors

which are: societal, technological, economical, ethical, political, legal, and environmental. This

tool is primary used to consider the effect of the factors on different aspects and to be able to

know the weakness and strength of the project.

i. Societal
One of the major problems that most societies suffer from is the high demand of energy

resources. Introducing the Solid Oxide Fuel Cells will help them not only reduce the cost of

energy which will directly decrease the bills but, the result will give a clean and efficient source

of energy for the citizens.

ii. Technological
The continuous enlargement of the materials makes it easy to improve the performance of

SOFC. There exist plenty of materials that can be used and mixed together for a more

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performing and long lasting SOFC. Also, when transforming fuel to electricity, SOFC has an

efficiency of over 60%.

iii. Economical
As for the economical factor, SOFC mainly uses natural resources to generate energy which

will decrease the price of power consumption and therefore help with the economic growth of

the country.

iv. Ethical
All the aspects of the project will respect the moral values and standards of the society. In other

worlds, the cost analyses, design, implementation, software and all the tools used and

information given will be proven given specific and detailed documents.

v. Political
Regarding the political factor, this project will join the Moroccan mission for sustainability

which will enhance the eco-friendly image that our country is trying to build. Also, Morocco

will benefit from many international partnerships while developing the renewable energies

sector.

vi. Legal
The project will respect the Moroccan government law NO 13-09 about related to renewable

energies. The law has four main parts but the one that is relevant to SOFC project is the part

that states that any project of electrical production needs authorization before being

implemented.

vii. Environmental
The main purpose of this project is to introduce a new way to save energy. The use of SOFC

as electricity generator that depends mainly on the natural gas is one of the eco-friendly

electrical generator. SOFC promise a high efficiency for very low emissions.

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 a. What is Solid Oxide Fuel cell?

A solid oxide fuel cell is a device that generates electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel (it

generates energy based on a chemical relation) [1]. The main components of SOFC are: the

anode, cathode, and electrolyte. Figure 1 shows how SOFC works:

• Hydrogen flows into the fuel cell through the anode

• Chemical reaction in the anode that separates the hydrogen atoms into protons and

electrons

• The electrons flow to the electric circuit generating electricity

• Protons flow through electrolyte to the cathode

• Oxygen flows into the fuel cell through the cathode

• Chemical reaction in the cathode between the protons coming from the anode, electrons

and oxygen to produce water and heat.

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 Figure 1: SOFC

Figure 1 : SOFC

b. What are the component of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell?

i. Anode
The anode is where electrochemical oxidation of the fuel gas occurs as shown in this reaction:

The anode should have many qualifications and the most important ones are high electrical

conductivity and high porosity [2].

ii. Cathode
The cathode is where electrochemical reduction of oxygen occurs as shown in this reaction:

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The cathode should have many qualifications such as high electronic and oxygen ion

conductivity, chemical stability at different operating temperatures, enough porosity, chemical

compatibility with the electrolyte, etc.… [2]

iii. Electrolyte
The electrolyte is where component that allows the ion transportation between electrodes. The

main qualifications of the electrolyte are high oxygen conductivity, high ion conductivity and

no porosity.

Generally the reaction of the cell produces heat, water, and electrical work as shown in the

%
equation: 𝐻" + 𝑂" → 𝐻" 𝑂 + 𝑊)*) + 𝑄,)-.
"

The passage of 𝑂"/ ions is done through the electrolyte, as more or less hydrated.

The electrons collected at the anode joining the cathode through the load. Is produced from

hydrogen and oxygen, water, electricity and heat. This can be interpreted as the reverse reaction

of the electrolysis of water. The electrodes are separated by a solid electrolyte whose role is to

allow ion migration from one to the other, under the effect of the created electric field [2].

c. Energy Efficiency

Solid oxide fuel cell technology attracts more attention than the other fuel cells

technologies mainly because of the various advantages especially when it comes the the very

low emissions and very high efficiency. Figure 2 below shows the efficiency and power output

of different fuel cells and combustion-based power plants. We can clearly see that the fuel cells

electric efficiency is relatively higher than the combustion-based power plants. In the bleu

color, we can see that that efficiency of fuel cells is between 50% and 60% and if we combine

SOFC with gas turbine hybrid systems we can get an efficiency that exceeds 70% [10].

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 Figure 2: Estimated Efficiency of Different Power Generation Systems

d. Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Designs

There are two basic cell structure types for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell batteries: planar and

tubular. Each design offers a different performance. Tubular technology is the simplest one to

design. The figure below shows the potential performance of SOFC operating at 1000 ° C. We

can clearly see that the planar design provides a better performance than the tubular one. But,

the planar technology is difficult to set up with problems of leakage due to the expansion of

materials in high temperatures [6].

The potential difference of a power source is an electrical pressure that triggers

a current to flow in a circuit. It is the work performed per unit of charge when a charged object

moves between two points in an electric field.

2 ( 4567 859))
Electric Potential difference formula is: 𝑉 =
; (<,-6=))

Power density is the amount of power per unit volume.

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 Table 1: Potential performance of SOFC operating at 1000 ° C

Potential Difference Power Density

Design Efficency (%)
(Joule/Coulomb) (W/cm²)

Tubular 0.65 0.261 50

Planar 0.8 0.318 61

iv. Tubular design

The components of the tubular design are manufactured in the form of a hollow tube.

The cell is built in layers around a tubular cathode with air flowing through the inside of the

tube and the fuel flowing around the exterior of the tube [7].

Figure 3: Tubular SOFC

Figure 3: Tubular SOFC

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 v. Planar Design
The components of the planar design are manufactured in horizontal stacks, with air

and fuel flowing through canals fabricated into the cathode and anode [7].

Figure 4: Tubular SOFC

Figure 4: Tubular SOFC

Table 2: Comparison between some properties of Planar and Tubular SOFC [5].

Comparison between some properties of Planar and Tubular SOFC

Properties Planar Tubular

Ease of fabrication Easy Difficult

Cost of fabrication High Low

Ease of sealing Difficult Easy
Long-term stability Fair Excellent
Thermo-cycling stability Fair Good

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 e. Real Life Usage and Installation

i. Cars
The figure 5 below shows a conceptual design of a SOFC car and its components. The main

components are the battery, the hydrogen tank, fuel cell stack, power drive unit, and the electric

drive motor [4].

Figure 5: Conceptual design of a SOFC based car

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 ii. Buses

Figure 6: Conceptual design of a SOFC based bus

Figure 6 shows a conceptual design of a SOFC based bus and its main components. It

basically has the same components of the SOFC car except that the bus has more hydrogen

tanks.

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 Materials and Structure of the Components of Solid Oxide Fuel

Cell

1. Structures of the Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

There exist main categories of planar cells which are the self-supported and external supported.

The self- supported structure is when one the components acts as the cell structural support

(the thickest layer). The structure of a self- supported planar could be anode supported, cathode

supported, or electrolyte supported. The external supported structure is when the single cell is

configured as thin layers on a porous substrate of an interconnect [11].

i. Self-supporting Structure
Ø Electrolyte-supported Structure: requires a thick electrolyte which thickness is around

150µm and both electrodes with the same thickness which is around 50µm.

Ø Cathode-supported Structure: requires a thick cathode which thickness is around

2000µm, a thin electrolyte which thickness is around 20µm, and an anode which

thickness which is around 50µm

Ø Anode-supported Structure: requires a thick anode which thickness is between 500µm

and 1000µm, a thin electrolyte which thickness is around 10µm, and a cathode which

thickness which is around 50µm [14].

Figure 7: Self-supported SOFC

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 ii. External Supporting Structure

For the external supporting structure, the electrodes are typically 50µm and the

electrolyte thickness can be between 5µm to 15µm. This structure reduces mass transfer

resistance the use of expensive ceramic materials. While the advantages are evident, the

difficulties are to find a materials mixture and manufacturing method that prevents corrosion

and deformation of the metal and interfacial reactions throughout the manufacturing and

operation process [15].

Figure 8: External Supported SOFC

Table 3 below shows the main advantages and disadvantages of each structure.

Table 3: Characteristics of different structures of planar cells

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 2. Materials of the Components of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

a. Structure of The Anode

The commonly used material of the anode is a cermet of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and

nickel. Nickel is mainly used because of its high electronic conductivity, low reactivity with

other components, low cost, and high stability under chemical reactions. Zirconia is used

because of its high stability in reducing and oxidizing environments (cathode and anode in

SOFC). Is is also known to maintain the conductivity at high temperatures and have good

chemical and mechanical stability [3].

b. Temperature and Porosity

One of the disadvantages of using NI-YSZ is not having the optimal porosity needed. Porosity

is important because it enhances the gas transport through the substrate by preserving a high

electrochemical movement for fuel oxidation at the anode interface. To be able to make it

porous, adding a pore-former is necessary to create porosity in the anode. Pore former means

producing a more porous structure. In this section, we will be using carbon black as the pore

former and studying the effect of adding it to the anode structure and also studying the relation

between porosity and temperature. This experience was done by alternating the size of NiO

because the densification of temperature of NiO is lower than the one of YSZ which leads to

NiO grains that grows into larger grain compared to YSZ grains during the sintering process.

The sintering process is merging a powdered material into a porous mass by heating [8].

Ø From the three figures, we can see the the grain size of the composites depends on the

amount of carbon black added. In figure 3, the grain is larger than figures 2 and 4 where

5 wt% and 10 wt% was respectively added. We can explain this by the fact that when

the carbon black is added, it interacts with the grand boundaries which lead to exerting

a dragging effect on the migration of the boundaries which leads to delaying the grain

growth [8].

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Ø From figure 2 and 4, we can see that the sample with 10 wt% carbon black has a higher

porosity than the 5wt% which is given to a higher development of CO and CO2 gases.

Figure 9: Images of NiO/YSZ composites (5 wt% carbon black)

sintered at 1300 °C : samples (a) 30B, (b) 40B, (c) 50B and (d) 60B

Figure 10: Images of carbon black-free NiO/YSZ sintered at 1400 °C :

samples (a) 30B, (b) 40B, (c) 50B and (d) 60B

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 Figure 11: Images of NiO/YSZ composites (10 wt% carbon black) sintered
at 1300 °C : samples (a) 30B, (b) 40B, (c) 50B and (d) 60B

Ø From figure 12, we can say that the lower the temperature, the higher the porosity.
Another important thing to talk about it the effect of the amount of NiO contents on

the porosity. We can see that t he higher the amount of NiO used, the higher the

porosity[9].

Figure 12: Porosities of NiO/YSZ composites (a) 5 wt% carbon black and (b) 10
wt% carbon black sintered at different temperatures

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 c. Porosity and Thickness

According to a study done by Mr. Syed Ali Hasnain, there is a direct relationship between

porosity and thickness. Figure 5 below shows that the higher the porosity the lower the coating.

This can be explained by the fact that when we have a highly porous material, there are less

growth spots accessible for the coating to grow on while for thicker coating, there are more

growth spots [11].

Figure 13: Graph Thickness vs. Porosity

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 Manufacturing Process of an Electrode-Electrolyte Assembly

An Electrode-Electrolyte Assembly cell is made from several layers. The main ones are the

anode, cathode, and electrolyte, but in addition to that we add two other layers which are: the

anode supporting layer and the cathode supporting layers. The main function of these two

added layers are to support the cathode and anode functional layers. In this project, we will talk

about the manufacturing process of a planar anode supported cell which is by far the one that

has the highest performance [12].

Figure 14 shows an ideal electrode-electrolyte cell which is a planar anode-supported cell.

Figure 14: Schematic of an anode-supported cell

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 Table 4: Materials, thickness, and process of each SOFC component.

Component Materials Thickness (µm) Process

Anode Ni/YSZ 700 Tape Casting

Anode Electrolyte Interlayer 50%YSZ+50%NiO 10 Screen printing

Electrolyte YSZ 10 Screen printing

Cathode Electrolyte Interlayer 50%YSZ+50%LSM 10 Screen printing

Cathode LSM 50 Screen printing

Figure 14 shows the process flow for making a functional cell. The first step is to

prepare a slurry that contains YSZ and Nickel particles and then tape cast it. The green tape

roll is cut into stripes and each stripe is blanked into sheets. After that, the sheets are moved to

the screen printing stations where anode/electrolyte interlayer, electrolyte, cathode/electrolyte

interlayer and cathode layer are deposited using the screen printing process. After each

deposition, an infrared drying process is required. After the screen printing processes, a first

quality control is performed in order to be able to detect the presence of any defects in the

surface and to measure the layer thickness. After that, we place the functional cell in a furnace

at a very high temperature (between 1300°C and 1400°C) for 24 hours to bound the five layers

together. After this bounding process, we cut the cell in the size required by using a laser cutter

and then, the cell goes for a second quality control [13].

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 Interlayer
Slurry Anode Tape Green Tape Ink Infrared
Roll Preparation Screen
Preparation Casting Drying
printing

Ink Ink
Preparation Infrared Interlayer Infrared Electrolyte Preparation
Drying Screen Drying Screen
printing Printing

Infrared Quality Quality

Cathode Laser
Drying Control #1 Co-Firing
Screen Cutting Control #2
Printing

Figure 15: Process Flow for Making a Functional Cell

Ø Tape Casting

Tape casting is a process that is used to make thin sheets of ceramics. The first step is to prepare

the slurry (semiliquid mixture) which is a mixture of ceramic powder and a solvent which is

mixed and then additives and binder are added to the slurry to treat it. The slurry is then

homogenized and then pumped directly to a slurry container. The slurry is then continuously

cast onto the surface of a moving carrier film. The doctor blade, which is the edge of a smooth

knife spreads the slurry into the carrier film at a stated thickness. After that, the carrier film

passes through a drying process that gently evaporate the solvent. The final step is the peeling

of the dry tape from the carrier film and rolling it into a take-up reel for further processing[13].

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 Figure 16: Tape Casting Process

Ø Screen Printing

Screen printing is a technique of deposition which makes it possible to deposit layers of a

thickness of about tens of micrometers in a reproducible manner. This technique makes it

possible to customize the geometry of the deposit according to the pattern of the mask used. It

is also easily usable for an industrial process. Figure 17 shows an operating diagram of the

screen printing process. To make the screen printing ink, the powder of the material to be

deposited is mixed with an organic binder to form a paste as well as a solvent in order to obtain

the desired viscosity. This ink is placed on the mask and the squeegee will then allow the ink

to pass through the pattern to deposit it on the substrate. The mesh of the pattern may have an

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influence on the microstructure of the deposit. The smaller the mesh the thickness is the deposit

obtained and vice versa [13].

Figure 17: Screen Printing Process

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 Engineering Study

In this part of my capstone project, I will give solutions to the disadvantages of the solid oxide

fuel cell. According to the previous study done in this project, the most used and best design is

the planar one. It has a higher power density (0.319 W/ cm² vs 0.261 W/ cm² for the tubular

design) and a higher efficiency (61% vs 50% for the tubular design). So the design we will be

working on is the planar design. Also, design of the planar SOFC with the highest performance

is the anode supported one. The disadvantages of the planar anode supported structure is: anode

re-oxidation, and sealing problems [15].

a. Anode re-oxidation

One of the main issues with the NI-YSZ structure in the anode is the anode reduction. The

anode reduction causes an increase in the porosity because of the NiO to Ni volume change.

The metallic nickel phase re-organizes due to many factors such as high temperature, surface

tension, and water vapor. If the oxygen pressure increases, nickel can easily and quickly

oxidize at temperatures above 600°C which leads to a volume increase which leads to

destroying the electrolyte and the anode support [15].

Figure 18: Figure: 18 Microstructural changes during a RedOx process in NI-YSZ based
anodes

There exist various solutions to anode re-oxidation that can be divided in two categories:

system solutions and materials, cell and stack design solutions. In this project, we will focus

30
on the materials and design solutions. To be able to solve this problem, we have to limit the

expansion of the anode support to avoid the cracks and to do so, we need to make the

microstructure of the anode support more porous to maximize the the gas transport (it should

also have a high electrical conductivity) [15].

vi. Particles sizes

The ratio between the particle size of NiO/YSZ is one the main factors that leads to expansion

during the oxidation. In a study done by Rober et al, he was able to show that the higher the

content of YSZ fine, the bigger the expansion. Another study showed that using coarse YSZ

instead of fine decreases the expansion from 2.5% to 0.23%.[15]

vii. Sintering Temperature

The sintering temperature plays an important role in lowering the expansion of the anode. If

we use a sintering temperature of 1100°C instead of 1400°C, the YSZ skeleton is less damaged

and the expansion is lowered from 0.6% to 0.1% after one re-oxidation cycle. [15]

viii. Ni coated Pore-Former

Pore former means producing a more porous structure. The size of the pores is very important

because when the sample is porous, there is a rapid diffusion of the gas to the active reaction

area. To use a pore-former, we coat it with Ni and use it to produce Ni/YSZ anode by using the

tape casting process. There are four main pore-formers used in the anode which are: graphite,

carbon black, corn starch, and rise starch. [15]

ix. Porosity
Particles sizes and sintering temperature has a direct influence on the porosity of the sample.

When the anode is very porous, when the nickel expands to NiO, it fills the porosity so the

expansion doesn’t happen. This is the reason why the porosity of the sample should be higher

than 40%. To make the sample porous, adding a pore-former is necessary. [15]

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Figure 19 below shows the expansion of the anode after one re-oxidation cycle versus the

porosity after sintering. We can see from the graph that the higher the porosity the lower is the

expansion and vise versa.

Figure 19: Expansion vs Porosity of an Anode-Supported Design

b. Sealing Problems

Another main disadvantage of the anode supported cell is the leakage problems. Leakages lead

to many limitations such as anode re-oxidation, higher degradation rates, and shutting down of

the system. In order to avoid mixing and subsequent oxidation of the inlet fuel and air, gas-

tight seals between the cells and the interconnect plates must be taken into consideration.

According to a research done at the NASA Glenn research center, the best sealant material that

can be used is the glass because it offers the most promising hermetic seal for solid oxide fuel

cells. Glass has some drawbacks such as not enough strength and fracture toughness to seal the

SOFC throughout its lifetime. The best sealant that can be used for the anode-supported cell

is a mixture of barium calcium aluminosilicate glass of composition 35Ba0-15Ca0-5A1203-

10B203- 35Si02 with alumina platelets additive. Adding 30% alumina platelets additive

increases the fracture toughness by 4.5 or 2.2 times and it doesn’t affect the density [8].

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 c. Carbon buildup

The main reason of the formation of carbon buildup is because NI catalyzes (cause or accelerate

a reaction by acting as a catalyst.) the development of carbon buildups from hydrocarbons

under reduction conditions. There are many problems caused due to the carbon buildup such

as blocking access to the active sites by plugging microspores, pushing the metal particles off

the support, and volume expansion (due to the dissolution of carbon atoms into the metal)

which causes the destruction of the fuel cell structure [9].

Figure 20 shows the different situations in which

carbon buildups can cause deactivation. Situation

(a) demonstrations a carbon layer chemisorbed on

the metal particles. Situation (b) demonstrations an

enclosure of metal particles by the carbon buildups.

Situation (c) demonstrations a growth of the carbon

buildups that causes the metal particles off the

support. Situation (d) demonstrates pore blockage

caused by carbon buildups.

Figure 20: Different situations in which carbon buildup

can lead to deactivation.

33
There exist two main solutions to minimize the rate of carbon buildups: changing the process

condition by having a steam to carbon ratio equal to two or higher or developing new materials

that are carbon-resistant [17].

d. Increase power density of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

To increase the peak power density of the solid oxide fuel cell from 0.3 to approximatively 1.4

w/cm2, some researchers found that by adding a small percentage of palladium in the ceramic

mixture of the cathode, and by applying an electric field to it after deposition, the palladium

forms a surface nanoparticle as it exsolves (separate from one to another at a critical point of

temperature) from the ceramic material. The particles formed act to catalyze the breakdown of

oxygen on the cathode surface. The nanoparticles are then fixed within the structure as they

migrated from the material which leads to a stability for the action through the high ranges of

temperature cycling of an SOFC [13].

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 Cost Analysis

The cost analysis study will contain three main parts which are: the materials composition and

their cost, and the manufacturing cost. The data of the materials compositions and materials

cost were taken from a thesis done in the University of California’s laboratory by Roberto

Scataglini and his classmates. I specifically used these data because they are the most recent

ones done (December 2015) [18].

a. Materials Composition and their Prices

The tables from 5 to 9 represent the composition of each layer of the solid oxide fuel cells. The

composition includes weight the appearance. Table 10 represents the price of each material

depending on the quantity ordered, the way of shipment (by sea, air, or truck), and the country.

The original study lists all the countries that sell the materials, but in this capstone project I

will only include the cheapest one.

Table 5: Slurry composition of the Anode Layer.

Anode Layer Density (𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟑 )) Volume (𝒄𝒎𝟑 ) Appearance

Nickel Oxide (70% wt) 8.91 10.438 solid

YSZ (30% wt) 6.1 4.554 Solid

Carbon Black 1.8 4.067

Pore former

Santicizer 160 (DBP) 1.1 9.982

Plasticizer

Butvar-76 (PVB) 1.08 10.167

Binder

n-Butylacetate 0.88 37.432

solver

2.387
Total weight 76.639

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 Table 6: Slurry composition of the Anode/Electrolyte Layer.

Anode/Electrolyte
Layer
Density (𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟑 )) Volume (𝒄𝒎𝟑 ) Appearance

Nickel Oxide (50%

8.91 0.185
vol) solid

YSZ (50% vol) 6.1 0.270

Solid

Methocel A4M 0.85 2.191

Binder

2-Butylacetate 0.9 1.173

solver

1.625
Total weight 3.818

Table 7: Slurry composition of the Electrolyte Layer.

Electrolyte Layer Density (𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟑 )) Volume (𝒄𝒎𝟑 ) Appearance

YSZ 6.1 0.539

solid

Santicizer 160 (DBP) 1.1 0.256 Plasticizer

Butvar-76 (PVB) 1.08 0.261

Binder

n-Butylacetate 0.88 0.961

solver

2.328
Total weight 2.018

36
 Table 8: Slurry composition of the Cathode/Electrolyte Layer.

Cathode/Electrolyte
Layer
Density (𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟑 )) Volume (𝒄𝒎𝟑 ) Appearance

LSM (50% vol) 6.521 0.252

solid

YSZ (50% vol) 6.521 0.270

Solid

Methocel A4M 0.85 2.191

Binder

2-Butylacetate 0.9 1.173

solver

1.597
Total weight 3.885

Table 9: Slurry composition of the Cathode Layer.

Cathode Layer Density (𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟑 )) Volume (𝒄𝒎𝟑 ) Appearance

LSM 6.521 1.009

solid

Methocel A4M 0.85 4.382

Binder

2-Butylacetate 0.9 2.345

solver

1.604
Total weight 7.736

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 Table 10: Anode-Supported Cell Material Prices

Vendor Material Order Quality (kg) Price ($/kg)

1000 68.5

AIICHI JITSUGYO (Japan) 5000 42.5

Nickel Oxide
10000 37

20000 34

100 49.7
Inframat Advanced Materials
(USA 1000 35.2
8YSZ
10000 29.8

100 150
Qingdao Terio
1000 80
Corporation
LSM Powder
2000 75
(China)
5000 60

100 4.34
Jiangsu Xiangcanghongrun N-butyl acetate
Trade Co.,Ltd (China) 99,5%
1000 1.516

1000 1.29

ChemPoint Inc (USA) Methocel A4M 1-45400 18,5-29,6

21.42
200
Dowd & Guild, Inc. (CA)
Butvar B-76 2000 17.14

5000 16.07

Jinan Shijitongda Chemical Co., 1000 3.07

Ltd. (China)
2- Butoxyethanol 100000 2.53

10000000 2.29

38
 b. Manufacturing Price of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

Table 11 below shows the manufacturing cost summary including cells, interconnects, picture

frame, sealing, end plates, assembly hardware, stack assembly and stack brazing. From the

total cost that we get, we can see that the more units we produce the less we pay. For example,

for 100 unites the total price s 590$ while for 50000 units the total price is 473$ [19].

Table 11: Stack Manufacturing Cost Summary

c. Total Price of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

Ø Price of each component:

Table 12: Total Price of the Materials Used for 1000 units

39
 Ø Total price= price of each component + Manufacturing Price

= 8798.21 + 511 = 9309.21 $

This total price doesn’t include labor price and other important data that I wasn’t able to find

such as the installation price of the solid oxide fuel cells in the cars or buses and other important

information.

Figure 21 below shows the price of different types of vehicles including hybrid, electric,

and fuel cell electric. We can notice that the most expensive one is the fuel cell vehicle because

the materials are expensive [20].

Figure 21: Price of Different Types of Vehicles

40
 Moroccan Context

During the COP22 conference that took place in Marrakesh, 20 electric buses of 15 meters

each were used as way of transportation during the conference. Another 15 buses will be

available for usage in the end of 2016. These buses are considered as the next generation buses

with zero carbon emission and a very developed operating systems data. During the King

Mohamed 5 royal visit in China in May 2016, he signed a partnership with Marita, Chinese

Yangtse and central bank to develop an industry leading dedicated to the production of electric

buses in Morocco. The project is a 1.2 billion dirhams’ investment that is spread over a period

of five years [16].

Figure: Electric bus used in the COP22 conference in Marrakesh.

41
 Conclusion and Future Work

Throughout this project, I had the change to learn about a new technology that is not so

very popular which is the solid oxide fuel cell. I had the chance to do a study of how SOFC

works, the materials used, the different designs and structures and the disadvantages of each

one and finally be able to find some solutions of the drawbacks and also a small cost analysis

part. This project is more of a research project. In this project, I used many skills and previous

knowledge that I acquired during my curriculum in Al Akhawayn University. I mainly used

the materials covered in both Materials Science and Thermodynamics class. As a future work,

I hope I will be able to test the materials suggested and have real data to do a better work.

42
 References
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[3] Kim, J., et al. “Structural Studies of Porous Ni/YSZ Cermets Fabricated by the Solid-State Reaction

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[13] Chassagnette Nicolas. “La Pile SOFC destinée à la cogénération.” Ecole Des Mines D'albi Carmaux,

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[16] "Electric Buses from China Serve Marrakech at COP22." Xinhua | English.news.cn. N.p., n.d. Web. 18

Nov. 2016.

[17] Dimitrios K.Niakolas. “Sulfur poisoning of Ni-based anodes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells in H/C-based

fuels.” Greece 2014.

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[18] Roberto Scataglini. “A Total Cost of Ownership Model for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells in Combined Heat

and Power and Power- Only Applications”. University of California, Berkeley, 2015.

[19] Battelle. “MANUFACTURING COST ANALYSIS OF 1 KW AND 5 KW SOLID OXIDE FUEL

CELL (SOFC) FOR AUXILLIARY POWER APPLICATIONS”. U.S. Department of Energy, 2014

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