Morphological modeling of a metal foam SOFC configuration

Abstract : The present paper refers to an innovative SOFC concept named EVOLVE after a running FP7 project which integrates advanced materials and an inventive anode current collector made from a NiCrAl preoxidized foam impregnated with a conductive perovskite. Even if the concept is the beneficial combination of Metal supported cell (MSC) and Anode supported cell (ASC) technologies, strong improvements in terms of reliability and durability are expected. In order to enhance anode efficiency, the 3D microstructure needs to be precisely described at the microscopic scale. ISTEC has produced LST-GDC active anode layers using screen printing process. Back-scattered electrons (BSE) SEM images that contain relevant microstructure information have been realized by Centre des Matériaux. All the original images have been enhanced by Centre de Morphologie Mathématique using a series of morphological operators to remove artefacts. Finally, a 3D pluri-Gaussian model has been generated from 2D images, and then computed to predict volume fraction of the 3 phases, 3D tortuosity, gas permeation and ionic conductivities.