Completion of the new three-year, EU-funded, all-European high-performance stack: design for mass production Schematic overview of main task distribution in the project. Source: NELLHI(NELLHI) project has resulted in a new solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack design. Single cell, coatings, sealing and stack design technologies developed in Europe were tapped to produce a novel high-performance 1 kW SOFC stack.

Key applications for SOFC systems include residential combined heat and power systems, automotive vehicles and electrolysis. These fuel cells convert excess power from renewable generation to turn water into hydrogen, addressing intermittency and storage issues for wind and solar.

Project participants include Elcogen AS (cells), AB Sandvik Materials Technology (interconnector plate material and coating), Borit (interconnector plate manufacturing), Flexitallic Ltd (sealing) and Elcogen Oy (stack design, stack assembly and production).

The partners successfully developed high-performance SOFC stacks at low cost and demonstrated over 70 percent stack gross efficiency and excellent resilience toward load cycles.

The researchers also optimized high-performance cells with low temperatures. Fuel cell manufacturer Elcogen developed an optimal microstructure to reduce operational temperatures to 650˚C, well below conventional temperatures of 750° C-800° C. Cell dimensions were also increased and the company developed a highly reproducible route to increase mass production rates.

The NELLHI project developed and tested a new material formula for cell fuel cell seals. These gaskets are resistant to high temperatures and extreme atmospheres. The design was patented during the project and is now commercially available from UK company Flexitallic.