Direct Utilization of Methane in Microtubular-SOFC

This paper analyzes the possibilities for application of micro-tubular SOFC (mSOFC) with partial oxidation catalyst (CPOX) located at the cell inlet for direct utilization of hydrocarbons. Applied system reduced coke deposition without integration into the cell structure and allowed application of traditional Ni:zirconia cermet for direct hydrocarbons utilization. The key problem in the
proposed Microtubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (mSOFC) system is where the part of the cell is outside of the hot zone. This is caused by the temperature distribution (TD). Despite the good resistance to thermal shock, the long-term operation with unequal TD can cause cell damage. The TD was measured along and across the cell (internally and externally) under different operating conditions.
H2 and CH4 were used as fuels in the first instance. Different mixtures of fuel and air and different forms of the catalyst were tested for the CPOX of hydrocarbons. Different forms/geometries of the catalyst were tested to optimize the system design. The paper mainly focuses on solving problems with temperature distribution along and across the mSOFC cell.