Rapid thermal processing for SOFC manufacturing

摘要

Methods of heat treating at least one component of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system. The method includes heating the at least one component with a rapid thermal process, wherein the rapid thermal process heats at least a portion of the component at a rate of approximately 50° C./sec or more.

主权项

1. A method of heat treating at least one component of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system comprising heating the at least one component with a rapid thermal process, wherein the rapid thermal process heats at least a portion of the component at a rate of approximately 100° C./min or more,
wherein the heating comprises at least one of:
singulating SOFC cells for SOFC stack refurbishment; orremoving the singulated SOFC cell electrolytes from interconnects during the SOFC stack refurbishment; and wherein singulating the SOFC cells for stack refurbishment or removing the SOFC cell electrolytes from the interconnects during refurbishment comprises performing one or more of the following:
applying heat using rapid thermal processing to a top layer causing thermal expansion to break a seal;applying heat using rapid thermal processing to one side causing thermal expansion to break apart all the cells in a stack of fuel cells; orapplying consistent thermal shock using rapid thermal processing to the at least one component in an automated process.