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Title:
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Air pollution: a problem for the SPFC cathode?
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Author(s):
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Published by:
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Publication date:
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ECN
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1-8-1998
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ECN report number:
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Document type:
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ECN-RX--98-048
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Article (scientific)
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Number of pages:
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15
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Published in: To be published in the proceedings of 1998 Fuel cell seminar, Palm Springs, California, USA, 16-19 November 1998 (), , , Vol., p.-.
Abstract:
In the laboratory, fuel cells are generally operated at well controlledconditions and with purified gases. In 'real life', deviations from these
conditions will occur. Contaminants may be present in amounts that could
affect the performance and life-time of fuel cells. The effect of sulphur
dioxide and of ammonia in the cathode feed have been studied. Using
non-humidified air contaminated with ppm levels of the substances the
performance of small scale SPFC cells were recorded. The effect of sulphur
dioxide is much more severe than the effect of NH3. The addition of 10 ppm
NH3 to the cathode feed leads to a decrease in current density of
approximately 5%, and is largely reversible. The addition of 5 ppm SO2 leads
to a complete loss in cell performance. The effect of 0.5 ppm S02 on the
current density is limited to less than 10%, but in contrast to NH3 , the
first exposure leads to permanent loss in performance. Additional exposures
are partly reversible. All effects are ascribed to adsorption of the
contaminants on the platinum surface, leading to a decrease in platinum sites
which are available for oxygen reduction. 4 refs.
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