Regenerative Performance of the NASA Symmetrical Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Design

The NASA Glenn Research Center is developing a novel cell design and a novel ceramic fabrication technique to produce solid oxide fuel cells predicted to exceed a specific power density of 1.0 kW/kg. The NASA cell has taken a different approach among planar designs, by removing the metal interconnect and returning to the use of a thin, Ca-doped LaCrO(3) interconnect. The cell is structurally symmetrical. Both electrodes support the thin electrolyte and contain microchannels for gas flow, a geometry referred to as a bielectrode-supported cell. Electrolysis tests verify high electrochemical voltage efficiencies and high H(2)O conversion percentages.