Designing an Ammonia Compatible SOFC System

An ammonia-compatible SOFC system necessitates careful design and material selection for long term operation. The high operating temperatures of SOFC, combined with ammonia, create challenging conditions for the fuel side of the system. Therefore, materials and control devices must withstand the highly nitrative environment generated by ammonia. To meet with these requirements, three approaches were introduced to aim at advancing the design and development of an ammonia compatible SOFC system.

• Ex-situ material testing was conducted to assess the material tolerances of common metals used in SOFC systems.
• Performance mapping of a multi-fuel processing capable nickel catalyst was done at various temperatures.
• Stack-level ammonia tolerability was studied using simulated pre-cracked ammonia feeds.