Startup Characteristics of Propane-Fueled and Thermally Self-Sustained Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Hot Zones

For portable applications, a fuel cell often experiences frequent startups and shutdowns. Therefore the startup and shutdown behaviors are critical to a portable solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and SOFC system. Startup characteristics of four propane-fueled hot zones were investigated. The hot zones were able to be started up at environmental temperatures of 50 degrees C, 40 degrees C, 30 degrees C, 20 degrees C, 0 degrees C, -10 degrees C, -20 degrees C and -30 degrees C, respectively, without the need of additional heat source. The effect of the environment temperatures on the startup times for the stacks to reach operating temperatures (700 degrees C for example) was negligible (within 3 minutes). The hot zone temperatures, however, decreased when decreasing the environmental temperatures from 50 degrees C to -30 degrees C, and stabilized at 661-635 degrees C (CPOX), 763-745 degrees C (stack) and 785-733 degrees C (TG) after one hour from startup. The maximum power of the hot zones was 165 W at over 60% fuel utilization. (C) 2012 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/2.063206jes] All rights reserved.