Fraunhofer-gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.v.

Saint-gobain Ceramics & Plastics, Inc.

Stefan Megel

Mihails Kusnezoff

Yuto Takagi

John D Pietras

Brian P Feldman

Claire Loe

Jens Schnetter

Nikolai Trofimenko

Peter Otschik

Klaus Eichler

Jochen Schilm

Lutz Schadt

An apparatus can include a housing, a plurality of electrochemical devices disposed within the housing, and a heat exchanger disposed within the housing. The heat exchanger can be faced with an oxidant-containing gas outlet surface of at least one of the plurality of electrochemical devices. The electrochemical devices can include a stack of solid oxide fuel cells, a battery, or a solid oxide electrolyzer cell.

Apparatus including electrochemical devices and heat exchanger

The invention relates to an arrangement of electrochemical cells and also to the uses thereof. The electrochemical cells are arranged one above another and are in electrically conducting communication with one another. In this arrangement they form repeating units which in each case are formed of at least one interconnector, in which apertures for gas passage are formed, an electrochemical cell, which is formed of a cathode, an electrolyte and an anode, and contact elements on the anode side and on the cathode side, and are arranged one above another. The area of the individual planar electrochemical cells is in each case smaller than the area of the individual interconnectors, and the electrolytes finish flush in each case with a plane of a surface of the respective interconnector. Mounted on this surface of the interconnector in each case is a single sealing ply of a glass solder with constant thickness, for sealing the gap between electrolyte and interconnector (internal joining) and the gaps between apertures for gas passage of two adjacent interconnectors (external joining).

Arrangement of electrochemical cells and the use of the same

The invention relates to stackable high-temperature fuel cells which are combined to form so-called fuel cell stacks and also can be connected to each other electrically conductively in series and/or in parallel. According to the set object, such high-temperature fuel cells are intended to form an electrically conductive connection between a cathode and an interconnector which, even at temperatures above 800&#xb0; C. and also in the oxidising atmosphere prevailing during operation of fuel cells, have a sufficiently high electrical conductivity, a chemically and mechanically adequate strength or stability. The high-temperature fuel cells according to the invention are connected, on the anode-side, to a fuel supply and, on the cathode-side, to an oxidant supply. The cathode is connected electrically conductively by means of at least one resilient contact element to an interconnector. The resilient contact element has one or more regions which exert a compression force on regions of the interconnector, the contact element being formed from an electrically conductive ceramic material.

Stackable high-temperature fuel cell

Growing community of inventors

Dresden, Germany

Stefan Megel