IDEAL Cell

IDEAL Cell: The Basic Ideas behind the Dual Cell Concept

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The basic idea of the proposed new concept for a high temperature fuel cell consists in isolating the hydrogen and oxygen compartments from the exhaust water.

Fig.1. SOFC: Presence of water on the anode side

This innovative design could be a successful solution of the main problems associated with the presence of water on the anode side of SOFC (Fig. 1.) and on the cathode side of PCFC (Fig. 2). In the IDEAL-Cell design each compartment has a single role to play, and thus it can be fully optimized.

Fig.3. IDEAL Cell concept: Water production in the central compartment

A three independent compartments system could be developed by joining the cathode part of a SOFC to the anode part of a PCFC. Thus both parts reject the production of water toward a common central compartment (Fig. 3). The protons created at the PCFC anode side from hydrogen rich gas and the оxygen ions produced at the SOFC cathode side would diffuse through the corresponding electrolytes toward the central membrane, where they will combine. The electrons that are torn off atomic hydrogen at the PCFC anode will go to the external circuit and feed atomic oxygen to create oxygen ions at the SOFC cathode side. The central membrane, which is the core of the project, must be a mixed proton and oxygen conductor with highly porous microstructure to allow the evacuation of water.

Fig.2. PCFC: Presence of water on the cathode side

The design with three independent chambers (hydrogen, oxygen and water) supposes that each chamber could be “fine-tuned” for an exclusive purpose in terms of catalytic activity, gas pressure, water evacuation, without a compromisе with the gas dilution, condensation of water on the catalytic sites, inhibition of mass transfer, corrosion by oxygenized water at high temperature. In addition, like in an internal combustion engine, thе proposed concept allows for an easy and independent application of pressure on both the hydrogen and oxygen electrodes to tailor and enhance the efficiency of the system, which is impossible in standard SOFCs and PCFCs.

The dual cell will operatе in a temperature range of 600-700°C. It will be made of materials with potentially very good properties which are available on a routine basis.

The present project is essentially based on a patent for the dual cell concept with international extension which was deposited by Partner 1 ARMINES in 2004.