SOFC's anode protection by bias current application: first experimental results on a short stack

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) are exposed to failures due to thermal cycles and to unexpected shut downs. Effects of thermal cycles related to controlled startup and shutdown can be mitigated by appropriate start/stop strategies, but unpredictable shut down strongly damages the system, especially in anode supported cells where anode's nickel oxidation arising at fast rate over 250°C usually breaks the cell, and very fast cooling of the SOFC stack down to 250° has as consequence the thermal shock break. Recently, reverse bias current application has been proposed to protect the anode from re-oxidation. In the present work the reverse bias current approach has been applied on SOFC stacks to assess the technique.