Development and Experimental Research of kW-scale Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells

A kW-scale molten carbonate fuel cells stack was developed and 800-hours' operating test and performance experimental research had been done. Utilizing domestic materials completely, we developed NiO cathode and Ni-Al anode with the active area of 336cm2 and Υ-LiAlO2 electrolyte tile and bipolar plate with the area of 900cm2. The stack was composed of thirty cells, with 62%Li2CO3+38%K2CO3 as its electrolyte. During the 800 hours' continuous operating, the performance of the stack was stable. With 99.7%(mole fraction) H2 as fuel and O2 from air as oxidant, the average operating voltage of a cell was about 0.72 V. The maximal current density attained to 165mA/cm2, and the maximal output power attained to 1080 Watt. The whole performance of the stack approached to the international level in the early 90's. This paper gives the main works and experiments results.