Conference Proceedings
Advances in Science and Technology, 2006
Authors
Subhash C. Singhal
Abstract
A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrochemically converts chemical energy of a fuel into
electricity at temperatures from about 650 to 1000oC. SOFCs offer certain advantages over lower
temperature fuel cells, notably ability to use CO as a fuel rather than being poisoned by it, and high
grade exhaust heat for combined heat and power, or combined cycle gas turbine applications. This
paper reviews the operating principle, materials for different cell and stack components, cell
designs, and applications of SOFCs. Among different designs of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), the
electrical resistance of tubular SOFCs is high, and areal power density (W/cm2) and volumetric
power density (W/cm3) low. Planar SOFCs, in contrast, are capable of achieving very high power
densities.
