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Gold/Mining/Energy : Global Thermoelectric - SOFC Fuel cells (GLE:TSE) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: the Chief who wrote (5730)	11/13/2002 8:42:00 PM
From: Gulo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6016

Can you substantiate that statement or are you just regurgitating what you have heard here? I haven't heard this stuff here. That is why I posted it. You are right. Power density is only one parameter. It takes a combination of good power density, low membrane manufacturing cost, reliable sealing, low degradation rates, etc. to make a commercial cell. GLE's highest power density does not, by iteself, make it the best cell out there. As you say, "they all seem to select their own way to quantify how good they are". GLE's recently published power density of 1.475 W/cm2 at 750C is almost three times as high as the highest power density achieved in 1999 of 0.5 W/cm2 (also by GLE). GLE's previous record of 1.22 W/cm2 was broken last December by a Japanese lab (single-cell 1.8 W/cm2 at 800 C but only 0.9 W/cm2 at 700C). I haven't seen that claim repeated and I estimate (from similar power curves) that the power density is about 1.2 W/cm2 at 750C. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reports 1.4 W/cm2 at 800. Global's progress for peak power density at 750 C: 1998 .15 W/cm2 1999 .53 2000 .90 2001 1.22 2002 1.475 That is astonishing, don't you think? mmc.co.jp llnl.gov Most published figures I have seen for commercial cell candidates are in the range of 0.3-0.6 W/cm2 for stable low temperature (<800 C) cells on methane. There are some companies that can get a better degradation rate than GLE, but their cells have power densities in the 0.2-0.3 W/cm2 range. Siemen's almost-commercialized tubular cells are at 0.18 W/cm2 (0.23 under pressure) and their new "flat tube" cells are expected to be at about 0.3 W/cm2. The most recent information I have is the awarding of a DOE research grant to a group that hopes to get 1.5 W/cm2 at 600C by using "active" membranes (i.e., direct HC membranes with catalysts). The low temperature would greatly help lower the degradation rate. To quote the project description: "The Principal objective is to develop highly active cathodes for SOFC, which allow the attainment of super-high power densities (>1.5 W/cm^2) at reduced (<650 C) temperatures, currently possible only at temperatures above ~800 C. This will be achieved by manipulating space charge effects in cathodes in such a way that with a decreasing particle size, the transport properties are enhanced, unlike in YSZ-containing and conventional MIEC-containing cathodes." Note that this state-of-the-art basic research project started in September this year and hopes to meet this goal by the time the project ends in Sept. 2005. I bet GLE will get there first, and with a YSZ membrane at that. Heck, GLE may even have it in a commercial cell by 2005. Regards. -g