Electrolysis Operating Mode for Reversible Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Reversible solid oxide fuel cells (RSOFCs) have been considered and developed for power generation from a variety of fuels and hydrogen/syngas production from steam/mixtures of steam and carbon dioxide. When the RSOFC is operated in electrolysis mode (referred to as solid oxide electrolysis cell or SOEC mode), it is critical that electrode performance is reversible and system design is configured for efficient operation in both SOFC and SOEC modes. This paper summarizes recent results on electrode reversibility in SOEC mode for planar hydrogen electrode-supported RSOFCs and discusses a preliminary system design for electrolysis operation.