High Temperature Fuel Cells
“High-temperature fuel cells, unlike other types, are capable of producing electricity and heat not only from hydrogen or methanol but also from cheaper and more readily available energy sources such as natural gas, gasoline, diesel or biogas. A front-end reformer converts these fuels to hydrogen and carbon monoxide. But the high operating temperature of over 800 °C requires a correspondingly long period of pre-heating. For that reason, such fuel cells are best employed in situations where they continuously operate – particularly providing energy for buildings and vehicles.” (PhysOrg.com, High Temperature Fuel Cells, 2/23/2010)
Recent US Patents
10/12/2010
7,811,711
Aerogel and xerogel composites for use as carbon anodes
Cooper, Tillotson and Hrubesh of Lawrence Livermore, California pyrolyzed a phenolic resin to form a wettable aerogel/carbon composite or a wettable xerogel/carbon composite for an anode with the chars being fuel capable of being combusted in a molten salt electrochemical fuel cell in the range from 500 C to 800 C to produce electrical energy. (RDC 1/11/2011)
Recent Journal Articles
2/25/2011
Phase stabilities in molten Li/K carbonate of efficient matrix materials for molten carbonate fuel cells: thermodynamic calculations and experimental investigations
(2557-2567) Journal of Materials Science 46 #8 (2011)
Paul et al, South Korea studied the performance of Al, Zr, and Ce species under anode and cathode gas conditions in Li/K carbonate at 650 °C. Lithium aluminate (LiAlO2), lithium zirconate (Li2ZrO3), and cerium/ceria oxide (CeO2) were the most stable materials. Furthermore, we found that Li2ZrO3 and CeO2 were stable phases after immersion in molten carbonate at 650 °C, under both anode and cathode gas atmospheres, for more than 5,000 h. (RDC 2/22/2011)