SPEAKER:
Professor Tatsumi Ishihara from Kyushu University is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry at Kyushu, Deputy Director of the international Institute for Carbon Neutral Research (http://i2cner.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en/about/ ) and he is also a Visiting Professor in the Department of Materials. His research interests include SOFC’s, SOEC’s, Li Batteries and photo-catalysts.
SYNOPSIS:
The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) is now being widely developed for applications in distributed electrical power generation and combined heat and power due to its inherent high conversion efficiency. The cell can also be operated in reverse in which it acts as a high temperature steam electrolyser and has been dubbed the Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell (SOEC). The SOEC is also gaining much current interest for its capability to produce of clean fuels, e.g. hydrogen, with a very high efficiency.
The combination of the SOFC and SOEC is of further interest for energy storage applications. By the use of a reversible system comprising of a SOFC/SOEC coupled with the oxidation of Fe, the cell can be used as secondary battery; the Fe-air rechargeable battery. In this presentation, the performance of cells using a lanthanum gallate (LaGaO3) electrolyte for both SOFC and SOEC operation will be introduced. The application of this reversible LaGaO3 cell in the new concept of Fe-air battery is also explained.