International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol.45, No.15, 8015-8030, 2020
Manufacturing cost model for planar 5 kWel SOFC stacks at Forschungszentrum Julich
A study is performed on the manufacturing costs of planar Julich Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) stacks, based on anode-supported cells (ASC). The manufacturing of two ASC concepts with different design approaches (referred to as standard and light-weight) are evaluated on the basis of stacks that have undergone performance and degradation testing. A bottom-up cost model for 5 kWel is constructed to estimate the costs at production volumes of 1 MWel, 10 MWel and 25 MWel per annum. The direct costs of manufacturing are estimated as 2737 -1210 (sic)kWel(-1) for the standard design, and 2170-580 (sic)kWel(-1) for the light-weight design, depending on production volume. For the evaluated concepts, the material costs are estimated to be dominant over the other factors (at the 25 MWel per annum scale > 65%) which is in accordance with most previous studies. The effect of the different design types on the costs is discussed. The steel components are found to be the most cost-intensive, benefiting the light-weight design. Cost sensitivity analyses to manufacturing parameters, power density and degradation are performed, as well as a theoretical scenarios calculated based on low-cost steel type SS441 replacing the costly Crofer materials and co-sintering replacing sequential sintering. The results are compared to previous studies. Strategies for cost-saving are discussed based on 20 years of experience with stack building and testing in Julich. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.