• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.149-158
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• 2007

Of all components of MCFC(molten carbonate fuel cell), corrosion of separator is one of the most decisive factor for commercializing of MCFC. In order to provide better understanding of corrosion behavior and morphology for gas channel of separator plate, post-analysis after cell operation for 1200 hours at $650^{\circ}C$ was performed by optical microscope, SEM and EPMA. Intergranular corrosion was observed on gas channel of separator plate. Corrosion product layer was identified as Fe-oxide, Cr-oxide and Ni-oxide by EPMA, and oxide thickness was measured with a $60{\mu}m-150{\mu}m$. Also, gas channel of separator was damaged by severe intergrannular attack with post analysis in consistent with immersion test. Moreover, pitting on the channel plate was observed with a depth of $18{\sim}24{\mu}m$. The results of immersion method are well agreement with post analysis measurements.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.305-312
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• 2011

The use of a separator to control stack temperature in a molten carbonate fuel cell was studied by numerical simulation using a computational fluid dynamics code. The stack model assumed steady-state and constant-load operation of a co-flow stack with an external reformer at atmospheric pressure. Representing a conventional cell type, separators with two flow paths, one each for the anode and cathode gas, were simulated under conditions in which the cathode gas was composed of either air and carbon dioxide (case I) or oxygen and carbon dioxide (case II). The results showed that the average cell potential in case II was higher than that in case I due to the higher partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the cathode gas. This result indicates that the amount of heat released during the electrochemical reactions was less for case II than for case I under the same load. However, simulated results showed that the maximum stack temperature in case I was lower than that in case II due to a reduction in the total flow rate of the cathode gas. To control the stack temperature and retain a high cell potential, we proposed the use of a separator with three flow paths (case III); two flow paths for the electrodes and a path in the center of the separator for the flow of nitrogen for cooling. The simulated results for case III showed that the average cell potential was similar to that in case II, indicating that the amount of heat released in the stack was similar to that in case II, and that the maximum stack temperature was the lowest of the three cases due to the nitrogen gas flow in the center of the separator. In summary, the simulated results showed that the use of a separator with three flow paths enabled temperature control in a co-flow stack with an external reformer at atmospheric pressure.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 1999

Microstructural variation and strengthening effects with lamination methods of alumina fiber-reinforced ${\gamma}$-LiAlO2 matrixes for Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell(MCFC) were studied. The porosities of all matrix laminated by hot-pressing of two green sheets under 1 kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ at 45$^{\circ}C$ for 1 min and by double-casting which the second layer cast on the first green sheet dried for 3.5h were more than 50%. The strength of the Al2O3 fiber-reinforced matrix prepared by lamination was enhanced by 70% in comparison with the non-laminated matrix (115 gf/$\textrm{mm}^2$) and the strength-directionality due to fiber-orientation also could be removed. The strength of matrixes laminated by triple-casting was higher than that of the double-cast matrix, but triple-cast matrix showed the directionality with the casting direction, and furthermore its porosity was less than 50%. Although the strength of matrixes laminated by double-casting (195 gf/$\textrm{mm}^2$) is slightly less than that of matrixes laminated by hot-pressing (212 gf/$\textrm{mm}^2$), the double-casting method was evaluated to be more efficient laminating process in MCFC matrix processing.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.117-120
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• 2007

Fuel cells are currently attracting tremendous interest because of their huge potential in stationary applications, in terms of substantiality of our energy use. They also offer environmental advantages, combining significantly higher efficiency with very much lower emission of SOx, NOx, and residual hydrocarbons, and significantly reduced $CO_{2}$ emissions compared to conventional power generation. The molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) was introduced from Fuel Cell Energy(FCE), which the one MCFC was operating by LNG and the other was operating by ADG. The ADG contains normally CH4, CO2 and various impurities such as sulfur compounds and siloxanes. Using the ADG as a fuel, MCFC have the potential to provide significant environmental and economic benefits. However, such impurities would be harmful to fuel cells. In this work, a purification process for the ADG was designed and installed in order to utilize the gas as a fuel for MCFC.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.124-131
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• 2006

For commercialization of molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), it has some problems to be overcome such as decrease of porosity and thickness of the anode under the operating condition (at $650^{\circ}C$ and working pressure of more than 2 $kg_f/cm^2$). Recently, Ni-Al alloy anode has been proposed to replace the conventional Ni-Cr anode as an alternative material to resist a creep and inhibit the sintering. The objective of this research is to sinter the green sheet of Ni-Al alloy anode during single cell pre-treatment process, which has several advantages like cost down and simplification of manufacturing process. However, the Ni-Al alloy anode prepared with a conventional pre-treatment process showed the phase separation of Ni-Al alloy and formation of micropore(${\leqq}0.4{\mu}m$), resulting in low creep resistance and high electrolyte re-distribution. In order to prevent the Ni-Al alloy anode from phase-separating, nitrogen gas was used in the process of pre-treatment. Introducing the nitrogen, the phase separation from Ni-Al alloy into nickel and alumina was minimized and increased creep resistance. However, there was some micropore formation on the surface of Ni-Al alloy anode during the cell operation due to creation of lithium aluminate. Addition of more amount of electrolyte into a cell, especially at cathode, made the cell performance stable for 2,000 hrs. Consequently, it was possible to make the Ni-Al alloy anode with good creep resistance by the modified in-situ sintering technique.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.593-603
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• 1996

A dual-porosity filmed agglomerate model for the porous cathode of the molten carbonate fuel has been investigated to predict the cell performance. A phenomenological treatment of molecular, kinetic and electrode parameters has been given. The major physical and chemical phenomena being modeled include mass transfer, ohmic losses and reaction kinetics at the electrode- electrolyte interface. The model predicts steady-state cell performance, given the above conditions that characterize the state of the electrode. Quasi-linearization and finite difference techniques are used to solve the coupled nonlinear differential equations. Also, the effective surface area of electrode pore was obtained by mercury porosimeter. The results of the investigation are presented in the form of plots of overpotential vs. current density with varied the electrode material, gas composition and mechanism. The predicted polarization curves are compared with the empirical data from 1 c$m^2$ cell. A fair correspondence is observed.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.107-118
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• 1999

A 5-kW MCFC stack with $3,000cm^2$ electrode area was tested to investigate cell performance and operation characteristics. The stack performance was evaluated based on electrical output and I-V change. The stack showed high cell performance (7.6 kW) than the design performance and operated for more than 5,760 hours, but a significant temperature gradient inside the stack was observed. A 3-dimensional mathematical model for molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) was developed for the purpose of simulation of stack performance during the operation. The model was solved using PHOENICS, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The simulation result demonstrated a close prediction of the temperature gradient and stack performance.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.8
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• pp.666-670
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• 2001

To improve the corrosion resistance of separator wet-seal area which is the barrier of commercialization of molten carbonate fuel cell(MCFC), Ni/Y/Al coating layer was fabricated by Ni electroplating and Y, Al e-beam PVD on AISI 316L stainless steel. NiAlY alloy coating layer was formed by heat treatment in reduction atmosphere at $800^{\circ}C$ for 5hr. Immersion test in molten carbonate salt at $650^{\circ}C$ was performed on as- received AISI 316L stainless steel and NiAlY coated specimen. According to cross sectional SEM/EDS observations, corrosion resistance of separator wet-seal area was improved by formation of dense oxide layers of Al and Y.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.413-420
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• 2013

Effect of inherent volatile matters in fuels on electrochemical reactions of anode was investigated for a single direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC). Raw coals used as power source in the DCFC release light gases into the atmosphere under the operating temperature of DCFC ($700^{\circ}C$) by thermal decomposition and only char remained. These exhausted gases change the gas composition around anode and affect the electrochemical oxidation reaction of system. To investigate the effect of produced gases, comparative study was conducted between Indonesian sub-bituminous coal and its char obtained through thermal treatment, carbonizing. Maximum power density of raw coal ($52mW/cm^2$) was appeared higher than that of char ($37mW/cm^2$) because the gases produced from the raw coal during thermal decomposition gave additional positive results to electrochemical reaction of the system. The produced gases from coals were analyzed using TGA and FT-IR. The influence of volatile matters on anodic electrolyteelectrode interface was observed by the equivalent circuit induced from fitting of impedance spectroscopy data.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.88.1-88.1
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• 2010

In recent days, the study for the renewable energy is required to supplement traditional energy source. One of the renewable energy of Fuel Cell is classified according to the electrolytes. It is the MCFC (Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell) for this study. One of the equipments of the heat exchangers is important component for efficiency and cost. In MCFC system, several heat exchangers are used according to the application. It is named for the humidifier because it is to preheat the fuel and water so that a reactor will convert some of the incoming fuel to hydrogen. Then, hot side fluid service is used the exhausted gas from the fuel cell and cold side fluid service is the fuel and water. The operation temperature range is about 25~500 Celsius Degree. This heat exchanger has the problems of heat transfer considering to multiphase fluid and phase changing. So it is necessary to analyze the heat transfer characteristics and to propose the reasonable design methodology for the humidifier. In this study, the thermal characteristic for the humidifier is estimated by using commercial tool of heat exchanger design and rating. And this study provides the testing methodology and presents the results for test facility of fabrication and for testing.