Temperature influence on internal reforming and methane direct oxidation in solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract

Nanotechnology is currently the main mega-project in science in general and particularly in energy. According to experts of the modern scientific world, it is possible to solve global energy problems only with the help of a convergent NBIC-technology complex. One of the directions of nano-optimization of energy production processes is the use of fuel cells. Fuel cells are sources of electrical energy that produce the minimum amount of greenhouse gases due to the high efficiency of direct conversion of the chemical energy of hydrogen, hydrocarbons and other types of fuel through the electrochemical oxidation reaction. The most promising types of fuel cells for energy are solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC); their features are high operating temperature and versatility in the types of fuel used. The high temperature of SOFC entails both positive and negative aspects, but it is very difficult to single out a certain optimal temperature range for a particular fuel cell without experimentation. Typically, the theoretical description of the temperature effect on fuel cells is a description of known facts about one or more specific configurations of electrolyte-electrode systems, and it is not always clear which of the described properties can be extrapolated to other types of SOFC with other electrolyte and electrode materials. This article considers the influence of temperature factors on the operation of SOFC with various types of internal methane reforming; the obtained regularities are valid for any types of systems, since the properties of specific materials were not involved in the research process.

Keywords

• solid oxide fuel cell
• internal reforming
• temperature
• carbon deposition