Fuel cell development

Topsoe Fuel Cell's development activities focus on several areas such as:

Combatting degradation

Topsoe Fuel Cell aims to produce fuel cells which can tolerate operating temperatures which are lower than for the existing fuel cells, where operating temperatures range from 700 to 750ºC.

The lower operating temperature ensures:

• long lifetime of other stack components 
• use of cost-efficient materials

Topsoe Fuel Cell has tested more than 7,500 hours of operation with internal reforming of natural gas and ambient air.

Increasing ductility

Topsoe Fuel Cell is also developing metal-supported fuel cells. These fuel cells are made with more active electrodes, meaning that the operating temperature range can be reduced to 600 to 650ºC.

Metal-supported cells are based on a porous metal substrate. The electrodes and electrolyte are sintered on top of the substrate. In this way, the ceramic support is replaced with a metallic substrate. This strengthens the cell which is ideal for use in operational environments with vibrations such as some APU applications.

Increasing cell activity

Optimizing catodes and anodes is a deciding factor in the development of fuel cells and essential to increase activity.