Liquid Tin Anode Direct Coal Fuel Cell (Final Program Report)
This SBIR program will result in improved LTA cell technology which is the fundamental building block of the Direct Coal ECL concept. As described below, ECL can make enormous efficiency and cost contributions to utility scale coal power. This program will improve LTA cells for small scale power generation. As described in the Commercialization section, there are important intermediate military and commercial markets for LTA generators that will provide an important bridge to the coal power application. The specific technical information from this program relating to YSZ electrolyte durability will be broadly applicable SOFC developers working on coal based SOFC generally. This is an area about which very little is currently known and will be critical for successfully applying fuel cells to coal power generation.