ON MOLTEN-CARBONATE FUEL-CELLS

Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFC) are capable of delivering the DC el ectricity by the electrochemical reaction between any hydrogen rich ca rbonaceous fuel and oxygen at 650 degrees C. A research and developmen t programme on MCFC has been started at CECRI in 1992. The First phase of this R&D programme aims at the development of 500 watts cell stack with 1000 cm(2) geometric area electrodes and a capacity of 100 watts per cell. In the following, the progress made during the period of fo ur years of basic studies has been reviewed. Porous nickel electrodes were prepared by-loose powder sintering or slurry casting technique. N ickel - 10% in situ conditions served as the cathode. Electrolyte stru cture was fabricated by tape easting technique. The performance charac teristics of MCFC single cells were described.