Breakthrough in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, a supplier of industrial nonferrous metals, have jointly developed 1-kilowatt low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) modules. The modules have also achieved generation efficiency of 40 percent, the world's highest.

SOFCs are more stable, efficient and environmentally clean than other kinds of fuel cells, and are expected to find a variety of uses, from compact power supplies for households, to possibly presenting an alternative to thermal power generation in the future. In spite of their various advantages, until now there were difficulties in using them, including constraints on materials that could be used, high costs and short lifespans because of their high operating temperatures, at almost 1,000 degrees Celsius.

KEPCO and Mitsubishi Materials worked together to develop a system to lower the operating temperatures and enable the use of inexpensive materials such as stainless steel in order to drastically reduce costs. In 2001, they succeeded in improving the performance of the lower-temperature SOFCs to the highest level in the world. They brought these advanced fuel cells to the practical application stage, while achieving the world's best generation efficiency by operating them using heat recovered from its own primary power generation, without the need for an external heat supply.

The companies aim to develop 1-kilowatt energy supply systems by the end of fiscal 2003. They also hope to develop SOFC modules that produce tens of kilowatts for medium-sized stores and small-scale factories for practical and commercial use by the end of fiscal 2006.



Posted: 2003/06/18 09:37:18 AM
Japanese version