Highlighting of Critical Experimental Data for SOFC Modeling That is Missing From the Literature and Potential of N-IR Thermography for SOFC Study

Within the following brief is the researched conclusion that there is a lack of fundamental experimental data available to the scientific community detailing the temperature profile through the cathode/electrolyte/anode assembly section of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC). Within these electrochemical reaction driving deceives, heat may be generated and diminished by several means. For example, heat is generally considered to be generated locally; as a result of the reactor’s fundamental operation. Furthermore, heat is generally considered to be generated and/or diminished, depending on the reforming method used, when the anode executes hydrocarbon fuel reformation. Not continually developing and/or utilizing novel experimental techniques, often developed for other fields, in order to provide fundamentally elucidating experimental data regarding SOFC operation is counter-intuitive. To date, the high temperature fuel cell field has not fully adopted the potential of thermography in order to study SOFC internal operation and indeed material characterization. This may be caused by the recent rapid development of the technology, which has reduced its cost while increasing its scope. This technical brief aims to highlight missing experimental data and suggest a technology and approach that may be able to address the issue.