Thanks CH4.
A very interesting quote from Jülich web site ( fz-juelich.de ):
In general, the capital cost of an SOFC system will to a large extent be determined by the area specific internal resistance at start of life, i.e. the initial power density, and the durability of the stacks. Figure 2 shows several degradation curves for SOFCs with initial power densities of 0.5 and 0.35 W/cm2, which can be regarded as the actual power densities for SOFCs with thin electrolytes operating in H2/H2O and CH4/H2O, respectively. For degradation rates more than 1%/1000h, the power density decreases rapidly and a degradation rate of 5% yields a lifetime of only 20000 h. This might be acceptable for short-term applications such as auxiliary power units in automotive industry, but certainly not for stationary applications. If the degradation rate is smaller than 1%/1000 h, the lifetime of an SOFC system would be more 100000 assuming that the lowest power density for economic considerations is 0.15 W/cm2 (Fig. 2). Hence, a degradation of 0.75 % per 1000 hours of operation would probably be sufficient for an operation of 10-15 years of a power plant without changing the SOFC unit.
Jülich is the research center that provided Global's initial SOFC technology and remains a partner in the EU's CORE-SOFC program. I am not sure what relationship Global Thermoelectric has with CORE-SOFC other than collaborating on the longevity research mentioned in your post. Rolls Royce and Haldor Topsoe (a chemical and ceramic catalyst manufacturer) are the only companies mentioned as partners in Core, the remaining partners being government labs (ECN, Risø and Jülich). Neither RR ot HT will likely compete directly with Global, although both have fuel cell programs.
rolls-royce.com - no fuel cell info on website
topsoe.dk - under R&D, has link to Risø and pics of flexible anode-supported membranes
risoe.dk - lots of good techy stuff
ecn.nl
fz-juelich.de - much of their fuel cell stuff is at fuelcells.de
Note that GLE's maximum power density of 1.475 W/cm2 is 3-5 times as high as the initial power density range Jülich uses as a typical example and is almost 10 times as high as the "lowest power density for economic considerations" of 0.15 W/cm2 specified by Jülich. At that rate, GLE's SOFC could have a 5%/1000h degradation rate and still meet CORE's actual power density targets after 20,000h. If GLE can reach CORE's goal of <0.75% degradation per thousand hours, we have a winner.
Of course, cell degradation is not the only problem, but it is one of the two biggest technical challenges facing Planar SOFC (the other being the longevity of the sealing mechanism). For what it's worth, the web site also mentions that Westinghouse, Daimler-Benz/Dornier and ECN (a Dutch R&D lab) have achieved <1%/1000h degradation rates, but it doesn't mention if the low rates were achieved with pure hydrogen or with reformed methane. I suspect they were achieved with pure H2.
ECN's fuel cell arm InDec is being sold to H.C. Starck GmbH, a part of the Bayer Group. That will create a competitor to GLE that has at least some access to CORE research. ecn.nl
I think Global may have the best planar SOFC technology out there.
Interesting times.
-g |
