Real-Time Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Diagnosis of the Marine Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

We have investigated the behavior of an operating solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with supplying a simulated syngas to develop SOFC diagnosis method for marine SOFC units fueled with liquefied natural gas. We analyse the characteristics of syngas fueled anode of an intermediate temperature microtubular SOFC at 500 °C as a model case by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to find parameters useful for the diagnosis. EIS analyses are performed with an equivalent circuit model consisting of several resistances and capacitances attributed to the anode and cathode processes. The characteristic changes of those circuit parameters by internal reforming and anode degradation show that they can be used for the real-time diagnosis of operating SOFCs.