Experimental Evaluation of Planar SOFC Single Unit Cell With Crofer22APU Plate Assembly

Abstract

This paper describes an experimental analysis of a planar solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) single unit cell with Crofer22APU plate assembly. The work reports the electrical behavior of such a system by outlining the time-evolution of contact resistances between the air electrode and the stainless steel plate. Moreover, the stability and effectiveness of a glass-ceramic sealant used to join Crofer22APU interconnector to an anode supported cell is also discussed. The time-evolution of the open circuit voltage was investigated with respect to the eventual sealant degradation or chromium poisoning issues by the metallic interconnector; a rapid voltage degradation at open circuit voltage was measured after 150 h. Chromium poisoning was found to degrade the fuel cell performance, whereas the sealant was chemically and physically stable, as shown by a post-mortem analysis on the cell components.