Ikuo Nagashima

Addition of potassium tungstate to the electrolyte of a molten carbonate fuel cell

Abstract Materials development for cell components is of great importance in prolonging the life of molten carbonate fuel cells because these systems operate at high temperature in corrosive environments. The effects of the addition of K 2 WO 4 to the electrolyte are evaluated by out-of-cell tests and single-cell tests. The former tests show that K 2 WO 4 addition effectively retards sintering of the anode, corrosion of the stainless-steel separator and phase transformation of the matrix substrate. Deposition of tungsten near the anode occurs in a cell test of 10,000 h. This suggests that tungsten suppresses the sintering of the anode.

A kinetic study of methanol decomposition catalyzed over plate-type palladium catalyst

A kinetic study of the catalytic methanol decomposition to carbon monoxide and hydrogen has been carried out in the pressure range of methanol up to 8 atm at 200 and 250°C over a palladium catalyst supported on an oxidized aluminum plate. The reaction pathway can be proposed as (i) dissociative adsorption of methanol to methoxyl groups and hydrogen adsorbed on palladium sites, (ii) decomposition of the methoxyl groups to carbon monoxide and hydrogen adsorbed, and (iii) desorption of the surface carbon monoxide and hydrogen species. It is suggested that the second step is rate-determining and the surface hydrogen species enhance the decomposition of the methoxyl groups.