Development of Hermetic Sealing Glasses for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Sealing glasses, either rigid glass-ceramics or viscous, non-crystallizing compositions, will be developed and sealing processes will be optimized based on NASA's solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) designs. SOFC design constraints, including material selection and operational conditions, will guide compositional development, and then these new compositions will be used for long-term (>500 hours) material compatibility tests under SOFC operational conditions. Prototype seals will be produced and will be thermally cycled between room temperature and 850�C to test the thermo-mechanical compatibility of the sealing materials with SOFC components. At the end of this Phase I project, sealing compositions and processes will be identified for SOFC applications identified by NASA.

The long-term space exploration mission of NASA requires high-efficiency power systems to be used for the human exploration and operations in space. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are of current interest because they can utilize methane and other fuels generated on-site at the Moon or Mars to produce electricity. Solid oxide electrolyzers (SOEs) are also of importance as a life support system because SOEs can generate oxygen by electrolyzing CO2 available in space. Both SOFCs and SOEs are high-temperature systems and require robust seals that can prevent intermixing of air (oxygen) and fuel, remain inert in reducing and oxidizing environments while in contact with SOFC/SOE materials, and maintain their effectiveness through repeated thermal cycles. This SBIR program will provide new reliable, thermally stable, hermetic sealing materials critical for the development of SOFCs and SOEs.

This SBIR project will assist the nation's SOFCs program in meeting its cost and performance targets by ensuring that SOFC seals can achieve reliable operation over an extended operating life. The program will ultimately enable fuel cell-based near-zero emission coal plants with greatly reduced water requirements and the capability of capturing 97% or greater of carbon at costs not exceeding the typical cost of electricity available today. Achieving this goal will significantly impact the nation given the size of the market, expected growth in energy demand, and the age of the existing power plant fleet. It will also provide the technology base to enable grid-independent distributed generation applications.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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