Cell materials variation in SOFC stacks to address thermal gradients in all planes

Abstract

A solid oxide fuel cell having a plurality of planar layered fuel cell units, an electrically conductive flow separator plate disposed between each of the fuel cell units, and a cathode contact material element disposed between each cathode electrode of the fuel cell units and each electrically conductive flow separator plate. The cathodes of the individual fuel cell units are modified such that the operating temperatures of the cathodes are matched with the temperatures they experience based upon their locations in the fuel cell stack. The modification involves adding to the cathode contact material and/or cathode at least one alloying agent which modifies the temperature of the cathode electrodes based upon the location of the cathode electrodes within the fuel cell stack. These alloying agents react with a component of the cathode electrode to form alloys.

Claims

1. A fuel cell stack comprising: a plurality of planar layered fuel cell units, each fuel cell unit comprising a solid electrolyte sandwiched between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode; wherein the cathode electrodes comprise Pd; wherein an alloying agent, which is a material selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Pt, Cr, Nb, a mixture thereof, and an alloy thereof, is included in (i) the cathode electrodes, and/or (ii) a cathode contact material in contact with the cathode electrodes; and wherein a ratio of an amount of the alloying agent to an amount of the Pd in a cathode electrode of a first fuel cell unit and/or a cathode contact material in contact with the cathode electrode of the first fuel cell unit is different from a ratio of an amount of the alloying agent to an amount of the Pd in a cathode electrode of a second fuel cell unit and/or a cathode contact material in contact with the cathode electrode of the second fuel cell unit.

2. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein a concentration of the alloying agent is such that, when the alloying agent reacts with a material of the cathode electrodes to form an alloy, a concentration of the alloying agent in said alloy is in a range of 1 to 65 wt %.

3. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein a concentration of the alloying is such that, when the alloying agent reacts with a material of the cathode electrodes to form an alloy, a concentration of the alloying agent in said alloy is in a range of 1 to 50 wt %.

4. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein a ratio of the amount of the alloying agent to the amount of the Pd in at least one of the cathode electrodes varies in a plane thereof.

5. The fuel cell stack of claim 1, wherein the alloying agent is Ag.

6. A method of using a fuel cell stack, the method comprising: providing a fuel cell stack comprising: a plurality of planar layered fuel cell units, each fuel cell unit comprising a solid electrolyte sandwiched between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, wherein the cathode electrodes comprise Pd; wherein an alloying agent, which is a material selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Pt, Cr, Nb, a mixture thereof, and an alloy thereof, is included in (i) the cathode electrodes, and/or (ii) a cathode contact material in contact with the cathode electrodes; wherein a ratio of an amount of the alloying agent to an amount of the Pd in a cathode electrode of a first fuel cell unit and/or a cathode contact material in contact with the cathode electrode of the first fuel cell unit is different from a ratio of an amount of the alloying agent to an amount of the Pd in a cathode electrode of a second fuel cell unit and/or a cathode contact material in contact with the cathode electrode of the second fuel cell unit; and causing the alloying agent to react with the Pd of the cathode electrodes to form an alloy.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a concentration of the alloying agent in said alloy is in a range of 1 to 65 wt %.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein a concentration of the alloying agent in said alloy is in a range of 1 to 50 wt %.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein a ratio of the amount of the alloying agent to the amount of the Pd in at least one of the cathode electrodes varies in a plane of the said at least one of the cathode electrodes.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the alloying agent is Ag.

11. A fuel cell stack comprising: a plurality of planar layered fuel cell units, each fuel cell unit comprising a solid electrolyte sandwiched between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode; wherein the cathode electrode comprises Pd; wherein an alloying agent, which is a material selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Pt, Cr, Nb, a mixture thereof, and an alloy thereof, is included in (i) at least one of the cathode electrodes, and/or (ii) a cathode contact material in contact with at least one of the cathode electrodes; and wherein a ratio of an amount of the alloying agent to an amount of the Pd in said at least one of the cathode electrodes or said cathode contact material varies in a plane thereof.

12. The fuel cell stack of claim 11, wherein a concentration of the alloying agent is such that, when the alloying agent reacts with a material of the cathode electrodes to form an alloy, a concentration of the alloying agent in said alloy is in a range of 1 to 65 wt %.

13. The fuel cell stack of claim 11, wherein a concentration of the alloying agent is such that, when the alloying agent reacts with a material of the cathode electrodes to form an alloy, a concentration of the alloying agent in said alloy is in a range of 1 to 50 wt %.

14. The fuel cell stack of claim 11, wherein the alloying agent is Ag.

15. A method of using a fuel cell stack, the method comprising: providing a fuel cell stack comprising: a plurality of planar layered fuel cell units, each fuel cell unit comprising a solid electrolyte sandwiched between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, wherein the cathode electrode comprises Pd, wherein an alloying agent, which is a material selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Pt, Cr, Nb, a mixture thereof, and an alloy thereof, is included in (i) at least one of the cathode electrodes, and/or (ii) a cathode contact material in contact with at least one of the cathode electrodes, and wherein a ratio of an amount of the alloying agent to an amount of the Pd in said at least one of the cathode electrodes or said cathode contact material varies in a plane thereof; and causing the alloying agent to react with a material of the cathode electrodes to form an alloy.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein a concentration of the alloying agent in said alloy is in a range of 1 to 65 wt %.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein a concentration of the alloying agent in said alloy is in a range of 1 to 50 wt %.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the alloying agent is Ag.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) This and other objects and features of this invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a solid oxide fuel cell stack;

(3) FIG. 2 is a diagram showing stack operation where 5 fuel cell units at each end of a 28-unit stack have 1% by weight addition to the cathode contact material of an alloying agent;

(4) FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the high level of degradation that occurs at the ends of conventional solid oxide fuel cell stacks;

(5) FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the steady-state operation of a solid oxide fuel cell stack in accordance with one embodiment of this invention resulting from a test at a temperature of about 700 C.;

(6) FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the steady-state operation of a solid oxide fuel cell stack in accordance with one embodiment of this invention resulting from a test at a temperature of about 650 C.;

(7) FIG. 6 is an SEM image of a cathode and diffusion zone for 10% v/v silver in a cathode contact paste sample fired at 900 C. for 5 hours;

(8) FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the Ag/Pd ratio in the cathode electrode as a function of distance from the cathode contact paste layer for various concentrations of silver; and

(9) FIG. 8 is an SEM image of the cathode electrode 15 mm from the Ag-LCN printed layer/cathode boundary with EDX analysis showing the extent of Ag diffusion (10% v/v Ag).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(10) The invention disclosed herein is a solid oxide fuel cell stack in which the operating temperatures of the cathode electrodes of the fuel cell units comprising the fuel cell stack are matched with the temperatures that they experience based upon their locations within the fuel cell stack. As shown in FIG. 1, the stack 10 comprises a plurality of planar layered solid oxide fuel cell units, each of which comprises a solid electrolyte 14 sandwiched between an anode electrode 15 and a cathode electrode 13. An electrically conductive flow separator plate 11 is disposed between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode of each pair of adjacent fuel cell units, and a cathode contact layer 12 is disposed between each cathode electrode 13 and each electrically conductive flow separator plate 11. At least one of the cathode contact layers and/or at least one of the cathode electrodes comprises an alloying agent, which reacts with a component of the cathode electrodes to form an alloy, thereby improving the low temperature operation of the cathode electrode and, thus, the corresponding fuel cell unit, based upon the location of the cathode electrode within the plurality of layered fuel cell units. The amount of alloying agent may be varied in the x-, y- and/or z-planes to achieve the desired response to the thermal environment experienced. In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, the alloying agent is a metal selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Pt, Cr, Nb, and mixtures and alloys thereof. The amount of alloying agent employed may be in the range corresponding to about 1% to 65% by weight (35% to 99% by weight palladium or other noble metal) of the alloy, but is preferably in the range corresponding to about 1% to about 50% by weight of the alloy.

(11) The fuel cell units, sometimes referred to herein as TSC-2 cells (these cells comprising cathodes in accordance with the teachings of the '064 and '169 patents to Ghosh et al. discussed herein above), employed in the fuel cell stack in accordance with one embodiment of this invention are anode supported cells in which an anode functional layer having a thickness in the range of about 5-20 microns, a solid electrolyte having a thickness in the range of about 5-10 microns, and a cathode functional layer having a thickness in the range of about 2-10 microns are screen printed directly onto a green anode substrate tape having a thickness of about 0.3-2 mm (produced by tape casting) to produce a multi-layer green cell, which is sintered in a co-firing process to produce the fuel cell unit. Conventional materials may be employed for producing the individual components of the fuel cell units.

(12) As previously indicated, the fuel cell units are separated by corrosion-resistant interconnects or flow separator plates. Contact pastes, which must be electrically conductive and which constitute the cathode contact layer 12, are used to bond the electrodes to the interconnects. In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, the contact paste comprises lanthanum cobaltate (LC). In accordance with another embodiment of this invention, the contact paste comprises lanthanum cobalt nickel oxide (LCN), but any typical ceramic cathode contact material known in the art may be utilized, such as those in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 7,190,568.

(13) The contact paste may be applied by screen printing a layer of LCN onto the cathode surface after the co-firing process. The LCN particles enter the porous cathode structure during the printing process. The layer is then fired in-situ at the operating temperature of the fuel cell unit, about 700 C. to about 800 C.

(14) In accordance with one embodiment, this invention allows the selective use of cathode materials in a solid oxide fuel cell stack at each desired temperature by modifying the palladium:silver ratio in palladium cathode electrodes. Tests of solid oxide fuel cells comprising cathode electrodes having palladium and silver have shown improved low temperature operation compared with palladium cathode electrodes having no silver.

(15) In particular, alloying of silver with palladium in the cathode of a TSC-2 cell has been shown to lower the oxide transition temperature of the alloy and improve the low temperature cell performance. TSC-2 cells have an optimum operating temperature range above about 725 C. The addition of silver to the cathode contact layer adjacent to the cell (fine microstructured lanthanum cobalt nickel oxide (LCN)) and subsequent in-situ diffusion under solid oxide fuel cell operating conditions has been shown to be effective for achieving improvements in low temperature cell performance.

(16) FIG. 2 shows stack performance at a furnace temperature of about 600 C. of a stack having 28 fuel cell units. Five fuel cell units at each end of the stack had a 1% w/w silver addition to the cathode contact material. As can be seen, the average cell voltage for the end cells with silver addition to the cathode contact material is about the same as for the TSC-2 cells in the middle of the stack. By virtue of the silver addition, the stacks are able to operate at the same operating power as TSC-2 cells at 50 C. to about 100 C. lower temperatures than the optimum operating temperatures for TSC-2 cells. Thus, with the addition of silver to the end cells of the stack, the center of the stack can be at a peak operating temperature for TSC-2 cells while the cells at the ends of the stack are at a peak operating temperature for the alloyed cells, and nowhere in the stack does the temperature need to exceed what is reasonable for the ferritic stainless steel interconnects.

(17) In general, we have found that stack degradation rates at 0.388 A/cm.sup.2 fuel utilization (Uf)=65%, air utilization (Ua)=30%, and fuel=hydrogen:nitrogen (55:45) with 3% humidity average around 2-4% degradation per 1000 hrs. Table 1 shows the degradation rates based on average cell voltages obtained for five test stacks.

(18) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Degradation Cell Run Test Rate/1000 voltage, Current, Temperature, Time, No. hrs, % mV Uf/Ua A C. hrs 1 3.48 27.4 65/40 47 680 1175 2 3.50 25.7 65/40 47 670 1320 3 3.40 27.2 65/40 47 670 1000 4 2.93 24.1 65/40 47 670 1440 5 3.06 24.8 35% DIR, 47 700 741 65/40
However, this average is higher than the materials system capability due to cells at the ends of the stack degrading much faster due to low temperature operation as seen in FIG. 3.

(19) Two cell tests were run with 1% w/w silver addition to the LCN cathode contact paste layer printed onto the cell (when alloyed, this is equivalent to 40% v/v silver in the alloy), one test at 700 C. and the other test at 650 C. Test conditions for both tests were the same0.5 A/cm.sup.2, 50% Uf and 25% Ua with 3% humidified hydrogen as fuel. The steady-state operations at these test conditions are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Initial degradation rates were less than about 0.5% per 1000 hours (calculated) over the first 500 hours.

(20) To determine the extent of silver diffusion from the LCN cathode contact paste into the cathode, five samples were prepared with different amounts of silver added to the LCN cathode contact layer as follows:

(21) 0.5 wt % Ag in LCN

(22) 1 wt % Ag in LCN

(23) 2 wt % Ag in LCN

(24) 3 wt % Ag in LCN

(25) 10 vol % Ag in LCN

(26) The screen-printing inks comprised 75% w/w solids loading of Ag-LCN cathode contact powders with an organic vehicle making up the remaining 25% w/w. The cathode contact pastes were screen-printed in a 11 cm square pattern onto TSC-2 cell cathodes and dried. The samples were co-fired to 900 C. for 5 hrs. After sintering, the samples were analyzed to determine the extent of silver diffusion in the lateral plane (x-y) from the printed area.

(27) It was observed visually that the silver had migrated to the cathode surface. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) was used to see how far the silver diffused. FIG. 6 shows an SEM image of the edge of the cathode contact layer containing silver and the cathode adjacent to this layer. Table 2 shows an EDX analysis of the points labeled 1-9 in FIG. 6 to illustrate silver:palladium ratios at various locations.

(28) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Spectrum O Zr Pd Ag Total 1 8.56 0.18 34.84 56.77 100 2 11.01 0.17 32.37 56.45 100 3 11.06 0.16 36.61 52.49 100 4 13.44 0.63 29.7 56.23 100 5 14.22 0.64 35.61 49.54 100 6 20.1 1 28.53 50.37 100 7 12.12 0.13 36.25 52.5 100 8 21.16 1.13 28.72 49 100 9 70.13 22.41 3.2 4.26 100 Mean 20.2 2.86 29.43 47.51 100 Std. Deviation 19.18 7.35 10.31 16.49 Max. 70.13 22.41 36.61 56.77 Min. 8.56 0.18 3.2 4.26 All results in Atomic Percent

(29) It should be noted that it is the silver:paladium ratio that is important, not the total percentage of each element as the analyses show differing amounts of other elements of the cathode.

(30) FIG. 7 shows the Ag/Pd ratio for different Ag concentrations as a function of distance up to 10 mm from the edge of the printed LCN layer. The diffusion concentration with distance shows a clear trend of decreasing silver:palladium ratio at all distances measured. FIG. 8 shows an SEM image of the cathode 15 mm from the edge of the printed layer and EDX analysis at the points labeled 1-9 show that no silver has diffused this distance even for the highest silver concentration tested. Table 3 shows the analysis of the points labeled in FIG. 8 to illustrate that no silver diffusion has occurred at a distance of 15 mm from the edge of the printed layer.

(31) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Spectrum O Zr Pd Ag Total 1 52.83 2.53 44.9 0.32 100 2 49.64 0.31 41.18 1.13 100 3 61.16 3.48 35.24 0.12 100 4 52.27 21.28 26.67 0.23 100 5 51.1 25.31 22.25 1.34 100 6 48.91 1.06 50.12 0.09 100 7 45.9 18.48 36.31 0.69 100 8 47.12 4.39 48.87 0.39 100 9 72.76 24.22 2.63 0.39 100 Mean 54.63 11.23 34.25 0.11 100 Std. Deviation 8.54 10.76 15.14 0.7 Max. 72.76 25.31 50.12 1.34 Min. 45.9 0.31 2.63 1.13 All results in Atomic Percent

(32) In general, for all concentrations, it was found that silver was still present 5 mm from the printed layer, and even 10 mm in the case of 10% v/v silver (equivalent to 13.5% w/w) though in very low concentrations at this distance. This diffusion profile is indicative of the ability to control the silver:palladium ratio in the x-y plane across the cell to allow optimum cathode operation even as the cell experiences a large temperature gradient, such as in the case of high power density operation.

(33) While in the foregoing specification this invention has been described in relation to certain preferred embodiments thereof, and many details have been set forth for the purpose of illustration, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein can be varied considerably without departing from the basic principles of this invention.