Experimental study of methane partial oxidation on Ni-YSZ anode of solid oxide fuel cells

The effects of oxygen addition to methane directly supplied to solid oxide fuel cells were investigated. Fundamental experiments were conducted using Ni-YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) cermet as a typical anode material, and Ni-YSZ catalysts having different streamwise lengths were fabricated on YSZ flat plates. A premixed gas of methane, oxygen, nitrogen and steam was supplied to a test catalyst set in a rectangular test channel. The exhaust gas compositions and the surface temperature distributions of the test catalysts were measured. It was found that the oxidation of methane prominently proceeded near the upstream edge of the catalyst followed by steam/dry reforming reactions downstream. This resulted in the formation of a high-temperature region, leading to a large temperature gradient in the streamwise direction.