Evaluating the drop of electrochemical performance of Ni/YSZ and Ni/ScSZ solid oxide fuel cells operated with dry biogas

Nor Anisa Arifin, Abd Halim Shamsuddin, Robert Steinberger‐Wilckens

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

85 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This work is aimed at evaluating the influence of carbon deposition on the power density drop of in-house fabricated Ni/YSZ and Ni/ScSZ solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operating in dry internal reforming of simulated biogas (CH4/CO2 = 2). An immediate drop of open-circuit voltage (OCV) and maximum power densities is observed when the fuel changes from hydrogen to biogas, 86.5% and 33.3% for the Ni/YSZ and Ni/ScSZ cells, respectively with mass transfer polarisation dominates Ni/YSZ polarisation. Carbon deposition is investigated as the cause of the reduction in performance by quantification of deposited carbon by temperature programmed oxidation (TPO) and catalytic activity test. Results from TPO analysis show unexpectedly higher amount of carbon on the Ni/ScSZ cells (2.35 × 10−3 mgC/mgcat) as compared to Ni/YSZ (5.68 × 10−4 mgC/mgcat) despite higher performance of the former. Catalytic activity tests reveal a low carbon oxidation rate compared to an initially higher methane decomposition reaction, leading to carbon deposition in both cells, in which the methane decomposition reaction of Ni/ScSZ is higher. Different effects are observed on the pellets, where the carbon deposited on Ni/YSZ deactivates the reforming reaction sites as quick as 20 minutes into the operation, whereas carbon deposited on the Ni/ScSZ pellet did not show the same blocking effect on the catalyst due to the different carbon morphology formed. A graphitic whisker-like rod structure is observed on Ni/ScSZ while amorphous non-crystalline carbon covers the Ni/YSZ pellets with 3 hours exposure to high methane content dry biogas (CH4/CO2 = 2). The difference of carbon structure affects the amount of carbon quantified in the TPO analysis where most of the amorphous carbon oxidises while some of the graphitic carbon deposits remain.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6405-6417
Number of pages13
JournalInternational Journal of Energy Research
Volume45
Issue number4
Early online date8 Dec 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The results reported were based on the Ph.D. thesis obtained at the Centre for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, UK. The author would like to acknowledge the Council of Trust for the Bumiputera Malaysia (MARA), Human Life Advancement Foundation (HLAF), and AAIBE Chair of Renewable Energy Grant No. 201801 KETTHA for funding the Ph.D. research and publication. 73

Keywords

  • biogas
  • carbon
  • degradation
  • solid oxide fuel cell

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Evaluating the drop of electrochemical performance of Ni/YSZ and Ni/ScSZ solid oxide fuel cells operated with dry biogas'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this