Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Development: Anode Supported Sofc Prepared by Tape Casting and Screen Printing

Coal is the most abundant, available and economical fossil fuel in the United States. Over 50 percent of the electric energy production in the United States is through the use of coal. However, many problems are associated with coal combustion, including the efficiency of the process and the release of harmful pollutants. These problems, along with more stringent air pollution regulations, have caused the need for cleaner and more efficient power production methods. Planar solid oxide fuel cells (PSOFCs) are a promising energy conversion technology, and research completed at Ohio University has shown that the PSOFC may be used to produce electrical energy using gasified Ohio coal. The objective of this work is to develop anode supported PSOFCs for lab testing. A process consisting of tape casting, dry pressing, screen printing and sintering has proven to be safe, cost effective and reproducible. The ability to fabricate low cost PSOFCs for lab testing is essential for future fuel consumption studies to validate theoretical and experimental results. In the near future, research will be directed towards testing how the low cost PSOFCs sustain in the presence of sulfur with fuel derived from coal.