Direct Internal Reforming of Methane Fueled Solid Oxide Fuel Cell by Effective Catalyst

Abstract

Fuel cell is a device that produces power through chemical reaction without combustion. It is more effective among other source of energy. It is an environment friendly low or zero emission, high productivity, multi-fuel capacity, versatility. In this project, the work is done on the catalytic study of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). In SOFC, the most commonly materials are used ceramic based materials e.g. for electrolyte Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia(YSZ) but it require high working temperatures (700– 1000 °C) and can be keeping running on different fuels including natural gas. In this project, the electrode (LiNiCuZnFeO) is prepared by Solid State Reaction (SSR) method. The compatible electrolyte (LNK-SDC) is prepared by co-precipitation method. Three catalyst of different molar ratio of Barium Nickel Cobalt [Sample no.1 (Ba0.2Ni0.4CO0.4O3), Sample no.2 (Ba0.2Ni0.6CO0.2O3), Sample no.3 (Ba0.2Ni0.2CO0.8O3)] are prepared for direct internal reforming of SOFC using sol-gel method. Natural gas is used as a fuel for SOFC. The best performance of the cell is achieved at 650℃ with Sample no.2 (Ba0.2Ni0.6CO0.2O3) with maximum open circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.7V, current density of 250 mAcm-2 and power density of 64mWcm-2 with highest conductivity of 0.42 S/cm.