Energy Harvesting from Algae Using Large-Scale Flat-Tube Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Algae have emerged as a promising sustainable energy source; how-ever, efficient methods for generating electricity from algae are still lacking. In this study, power generation using large-scale flat-tube solid oxide fuel cells fueled with biosyngas from microwave -enhanced pyrolysis of algae is demonstrated. The power density of a cell fueled with biosyngas from laminaria is 379.8 mW/cm2 un-der 0.8 V at 750 & DEG;C, which is approximately 91.7% of the density of a cell fueled with pure hydrogen. Fueled with dry syngas (laminaria), the cell fails within 3 h because of carbon deposition. Adding 5 vol % H2O to syngas (laminaria) inhibits carbon deposition and enables 800 h of galvanostatic operation without degradation under 200 mA/cm2 at 750 & DEG;C. A 100-cycle pulsed operation of the cell with syn-gas (laminaria, 5 vol % H2O) under different loads, simulating prac-tical scenarios with variable energy demands, is obtained. Based on the simulation results, the temperature fluctuations within the cell under different current densities are analyzed. Overall, this work ad-vances practical efforts to improve solid oxide fuel cells for bio-syngas consumption.