Ammonia-fed solid oxide fuel cells for power generation-A review

摘要

Ammonia has been identified as a promising sustainable fuel and hydrogen source for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). This paper aims to provide a literature review on ammonia-fed SOFCs. Both experimental studies and mathematical modeling investigations on NH_3-fed SOFC are included and discussed. It is found that NH_3 is a technically feasible fuel for direct use in SOFCs and the performance of NH_3-fed SOFC is comparable with that of the H_2 fed SOFC. Experimental study in literature also demonstrates that both oxygen ion-conducting electrolyte (SOFC-O) and proton-conducting electrolyte (SOFC-H) can be used in NH_3-fed SOFC, as the amount of NO_X generated in a SOFC-O is negligible. Fabricating thin film electrolyte and developing more reactive electrode materials are important to improve the performance of NH_3-fed SOFCs. Mathematical models are useful design tools for understanding the coupled transport and reaction phenomena and for optimizing the SOFC performance. Thermodynamic and pioneering 1D electrochemical models have been developed, validated and demonstrated to be reliable by the present author.