Development of a Versatile and Reversible Multi-Stack Solid Oxide Cell System Towards Operation Strategies Optimization

Solid oxide cell technology is currently experiencing a rapid industrialization phase. To investigate operational strategy, CEA/LITEN has designed and constructed its first multi-stack reversible solid oxide cell (rSOC) module. While it is able to host four of CEA’s standard 25-cell stacks, the present work reports on preliminary validation results obtained in a 2-stack configuration. Thermal losses have been quantified and identified. While the hotbox is showing high performances, the overall losses increased twofold when taking into account pass-through piping and current connections. Module fluid distribution was verified to be homogeneous, and does not affect nominal stack operation. A durability test of more than 2 kh is presented. Over the first 1.1 kh, the stacks behavior was compared to that of a stack previously operated on a test bench. The remarkable similarities indicate adequate control of the module. Finally, a detailed analysis of the recorded efficiency was conducted.