Development of a 0.25 kW PAFC stack at KACST

Abstract EN

The R&D activities on Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) technology at the Energy Research Institute, KACST, have progressed successfully during the past 3 years.

The development of components with “in-house” know-how of half cells, mono cells, 100W, and 250W stacks has been quite successful.

The 0.25 kW PAFC stack is the first prototype developed in the Gulf countries (GCC) with “in-house” know-how for the preparation of the large size porous carbon electrodes (anodes/cathodes), electrolyte matrices, graphite bi-polar plates, external aluminum gas manifolds, and other components necessary for constructing the PAFC stacks.

In this paper, details of the preparation of the porous carbon electrodes, electrolyte matrices, design and fabrication technique of graphite bi-polar plates are given.

The assembly and the experimental test results of the half cells, mono cells, 100 W, and 0.25 kW PAFC stacks are reported.