In solid oxide fuel cell, the electrolyte is a solid ceramic material (sand).


 
The anode and cathode are made from special inks that coat the
electrolyte. Unlike othertypes of fuel cells, no precious metals, corrosive
acids, or molten materials are required.

 
 Next, an electrochemical reaction converts fuel and air into electricity
withoutcombustion.

 
A solid oxide fuel cell is a
high temperature fuel cell
.

 
At high temperature, warm air enters the cathode side of the fuel cell and
steam mixeswith fuel to produce reformed fuel which enters on the
anode side.

 
 Next, the chemical reaction begins in the fuel cell. As the reformed fuel
crosses theanode, it attracts
oxygen ions
 from the cathode.

 
The oxygen ions combine with the reformed fuel to produce electricity,
water, and smallamounts of carbon dioxide.

 
The water gets recycled to produce the steam needed to reform the fuel
and also generatesthe heat required by the fuel cell.

 
For
methanol fuel
 cells below chemical reactions take place:

 
Anode Reaction: CH3OH + H2O → CO2 + 6H+ + 6e
-

 
Cathode Reaction: 3/2 O2 + 6H+ + 6e-
→ 3H2O

 
Overall Reaction: CH3OH + 3/2 O2 → CO2 + 2H2O + electrical energy
 
for
methane
 as fuel:

 
CH4+2O2 → CO2+2H2O+Electricity
+HeatInstallation and Usage:
 

 
Bloom's systems are easy and fast to install, practically anywhere.

 
The current cost of each hand-made
100 kW
 Bloom Energy Server is $
700,000 to $800,000
 each.

 
The company announced plans for a smaller, home sized Bloom server
priced under
$3,000
 and the capital cost is
$7
 – 
8 per watt
.
 

 
Bloom Energy has developed a simpler way to
power data centers
 and
mission criticalfacilities
.
We are consuming electricity from the major source such as nuclear and
thermal power plant, solar energy, wind energy.
 

 
The first customer of the bloom box was
Google
. They use
natural gas
, but half as much aswould be required for a traditional power plant.

 
In
 EBay
, the five Bloom Boxes installed on the campus have saved the company
more than$100,000 in electricity costs.
 

 
Bloom Energy stated that their customers include
 Staples
 (300 kW), 
Walmart
, (800 kW),
FedEx
 (500 kW), 
The Coca-Cola Company
 (500 kW) and 
Bank of America
 
(500 kW).
The Benefits of Bloom Energy:a) Low cost materials
:
 

 
These cells use a common sand-like powder instead of precious metals
like platinum orcorrosive materials like acids.
 b) High electrical efficiency
:

 
We can convert fuel into electricity at nearly twice the rate of some
legacy technologies.

 
Bloom claims a conversion efficiency of around
50%
. A modern 
combined cyclegas turbinepower plant
(CCGT) can reach 60% overall efficiency, using a
multi-step process.

 
Sridhar stated that Bloom servers convert chemical energy to electrical
energy in
one step
  process.
 

 
He said the boxes have a
10 year life span
, although that could include replacing the cellsduring that period.
 
 

 c) Fuel flexibility

:

 
These systems are
capable of using
either
renewable
 (methane,
methanol) or
fossil