Molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) power plants have the potential for providing clean, efficient dispersed and central power generation if costs can be reduced. State-of-the-art fuel cell active area components are currently manufactured via tape casting at speeds near 15 inches-per-minute. Tape casting involves suspending the composite material and binder in a solvent and casting them on a moving substrate. The cast suspension passes through a drying section where the solvents evaporate leaving behind a thin, porous, flexible MCFC component. This project will develop a method of dramatically increasing MCFC manufacturing rates by eliminating evaporative drying from the tape casting process. In Phase I, the feasibility of manufacturing MCFC components by tape casting without evaporative drying will be demonstrated using laboratory manufacturing trials . In Phase II, the manufacture of full-area (Im2) MCFC components will be demonstrated and a sub-scale test will be conducted.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:The cost of manufacturing MCFC active area components should be significantly reduced as a direct result of increased production rates. Other industries which use conventional tape casting should have an alternative to the slow, energy intensive, evaporative drying process.
