Lifetime Issues for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Interconnects, Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Lifetime and Reliability

The manuscript aims to introduce the reader to the main drawbacks interconnects face in SOFC environments, giving the basis to understand the problem and the literature references to deepen the knowledge on each specific topic.The chapter is divided in two parts: a theoretical description of the degradation phenomena affecting the interconnects (notably corrosion and mechanical stresses) and a table presenting its behaviour in operating conditions, at the end of the chapter. In the first part, influence of oxygen, fuel and water partial pressure on scale growth process are taken in consideration, with the latter being the most influent. A paragraph is dedicated to the corrosion behaviour of sealants too, while the mechanical degradation part is focused on the model methodology currently used to forecast stress-strain behaviour in SOFC metal interconnects. A paragraph describing solutions to mitigate interconnect lifetime issues is provided at the end of this section. In the table are presented results of interconnects coupled with different types of SOFC cell: anode, electrolyte and metal supported and tested in operating conditions. From the analysis of the data collected in the table, it can be said that current solutions to extend lifetime are already reasonably effective