Development Progress at Hexis SOC Activities

Abstract

HEXIS is developing and manufacturing SOFC-based micro-CHP systems for houses and/or small companies. This paper will present the long-term experiences on long-term and cyclic testing of fuel cell modules in lab tests as well as results on robustness and performance in the field. It was observed that degradation rates as low as approx. 0.3 %/kh, i.e. 13 mΩ cm²/kh on the short-stack level for over 50,000 h can be reached. These stacks have been analyzed with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) at regular intervals, which can provide valuable insights in understanding fundamental degradation mechanisms for long term operation of SOFC stacks. Moreover, the paper will include highlights of new developments such as improvements on cell and stack level as well as new applications for the Hexis technology in general. Finally, the paper will outline some of the future challenges in Hexis’ development activities.