Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for Power Generation

摘要

The Energy Business of Rolls-Royce pic has an active interest in Fuel Cell technology. The potential for high efficiency operation with associated environmental benefits is unrivalled by other technologies. In particular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology has several specific features that make it potentially synergistic to Gas Turbine Technology in terms of temperature of operation and fuel management. Over the past seven years Rolls-Royce Strategic Research Centre has developed a novel concept of SOFC technology aimed at complementing its industrial gas turbine business in distributed power generation markets. The Rolls Royce concept called the Integrated Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (IP-SOFC), aims to overcome the drawbacks of other SOFC designs in terms of cost and performance and thus emerge as a second-generation technology. The ethos of design, together with aspects of the materials and manufacturing development of the IP-SOFC will be discussed. Status of current and future stack programmes will be presented.