New Stack Design of Micro-tubular SOFCs for Portable Power Sources

Micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have high thermal stability and higher volumetric power density, which are considered to be ideal features for portable power sources and auxiliary power units for automobile. Here, we report a new stack design using anode supported micro-tubular SOFCs with 2 mm diameter using Gd doped CeO(2) (GDC) electrolyte, NiO-GDC anode and (La, Sr)(Co, Fe)O(3) (LSCF)-GDC cathode. The new stack consists of three bundles with five tubular cells, seating layers and interconnects and fuel manifolds. The performance of the stack whose volume is 1 cm(3) was shown to be 2.8 V OCV and maximum power output of 1.5 W at 500 degrees C, applying air only by natural convection. The results also showed strong dependence of the fuel flow rates on the stack performance, which was correlated to the gas diffusion limitation.