Effect of the steam/hydrogen ratio on the performance of flat-tube solid oxide electrolysis cells for seawater

Abstract

This work investigated the durability of seawater electrolysis and degradation mechanism for hydrogen production at different seawater steam contents using a flat-tube solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC). The results showed that the cells ran stably for 1000 hours at 62 and 67% seawater steam contents with degradation rates of 48 mV kh⁻¹ and 129 mV kh⁻¹, respectively. The degradation at different seawater steam contents is mainly concentrated in the fuel electrode of the cell and is ascribed to the migration, agglomeration, and loss of Ni particles. This study effectively brings out the issues seen in the long-term application of solid oxide electrolysis cells in seawater environments.