Volatilization behavior of Li/Na carbonate as an electrolyte in MCFC

We have been elucidating the volatile Li/K electrolyte behavior in MCFC since 2003 using a visualization technique. Regarding the 62Li(2)CO(3)/ 38K(2)CO(3) electrolyte, the molten salt is produced as KOH with the water generated with the cell reaction, and K2CO3, which is the volatile matter, is generated as the KOH reacts with CO2 in the anode gas. Conversely, the volatile matter in the cathode channel is due to the dispersion of molten salt. In this paper, we aim to elucidate the fundamental electrolyte volatilizing mechanism of 52Li(2)CO(3)/ 48Na(2)CO(3) and the influence of the electrolyte leakage from the wet seal section on the electrolyte's volatile behavior. As a result, the volatile matter Li/Na electrolyte is not observed under the generation mode even as the current density increases. However, a large amount of electrolytes that originated in the leakage from the wet seal section are discharged beginning immediately after operation and lasting until about one week later on the Li/Na electrolyte.