Direct Methanol Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

In this study, performance of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) was studied with hydrogen and methanol/water vapor fed directly to the anode. MEA was prepared by using scandia-stablized zirconia (SSZ) electrolyte and NiO-SSZ and Sr-doped lanthanum ferrite (LSF) as anode and cathode materials. A three dimensional model of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has been developed and is used to predict the temperature and fuel concentration distribution across the cell. On the other hand, we designed special experimental set up for testing MEA performance. The influence of different operation parameters (temperature, fuel concentration, fuel-air flow rate...) to the MEA performance was examined. The results show the maximum power generation from MEA when fed with methanol and hydrogen. The maximum power output of 1.6 W/cm(2) was obtained at 750 degrees C with pure hydrogen. When methanol was directly used as fuel, the maximum power output was 1.2 W/cm(2) at same temperature.