Performance characterization of solid oxide cells under high pressure

Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) offer a great potential for large scale conversion of renewable electrical energy into chemical energy via electrolysis of H2O and CO2 to produce syngas (H2 + CO). The produced syngas can be further catalytically converted into various gaseous or liquid hydrocarbon fuels, which is normally performed at high pressure to achieve a high yield. Operation of SOECs at elevated pressure will therefore facilitate integration with the downstream fuel synthesis and is furthermore advantageous as it increases the cell performance. In this work, recent pressurised test results of a planar Ni-YSZ (YSZ: Yttria stabilized Zirconia) supported solid oxide cell are presented. The test was performed at 800 °C at pressures up to 15 bar. A comparison of the electrochemical performance of the cell at 1 and 3 bar shows a significant and equal performance gain at higher pressure in both fuel cell mode and electrolysis mode. In electrolysis mode at low current density, the performance improvement was counteracted by the increase in open circuit voltage, but it has to be born in mind that the pressurised gas contains higher molar free energy. Operating at high current density is in particular more beneficial when operating the SOEC at increased pressure.