VNIIEF research on Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells

Some research results which have been obtained at VNIIEF during the last time are presented. The general purpose of this research is that to improve the performance and to decrease the cost of MCFC technology. Percolation model has been applied for description of microstructure of porous electrodes. The main purpose of this model is to describe the distribution of three phases boundary within of porous electrode as a function of structure of pores. Simple 2D-calculations have been carried out as an illustration of proposed approach. Hydrodynamic calculations of gas flows distribution along a gap between separator-electrode plane were performed with using of ANSYS software. The final purpose of such calculations is to determine the most effective distribution of gas flows from the view point of MCFC performance and as a result to provide optimum design of corrugated(stamped) separator. It's well known lithiated nickel oxide is the base of traditional MCFC cathodes. The processes of oxidation and lithiation of nickel in the eutectic melt of Li/K carbonates have been investigated. The experiments were performed under strong variations both of temperatures and of oxidizing gas compositions. Since 1995 we have been considering the problems of applications of cost-effective novel Combustion Synthesis (CS) method to MCFC technology. The task of production of oxide-like ceramics such as doped LiFeO2 and LiCoO2 by CS is presented here. It's well known indicated compounds are produced by furnace synthesis and are used for alternative MCFC cathodes having lower solubility in comparison with traditional lithiated NiO. We confirmed in theory and on practice the capability of pointed materials obtaining by CS technique. Study of process of combustion has been performed and initial research of synthesized products has been completed.