Solid oxide fuel cell using agroforestry waste as fuel: A balance between power output and fuel utilization.

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has the potential to convert biomass to electrical power cleanly and efficiently by integrating with in situ gasification of biomass. It is necessary to keep a balance between maximizing the power output of fuel cells and minimizing the pretreatment of biomass. Herein, we report the comparison of output performance between the apple tree branches (ATB) dried at 110°C and the one pyrolyzed at 500°C in SOFCs. The results show that the peak power densities (PPD) of SOFCs operated at 850°C were 157 and 238 mW cm−2 for the dried and the pyrolyzed samples, respectively. And the corresponding apparent fuel utilizations for them were 18.1% and 24.6%, respectively. However, if counting the pyrolysis yield (~28 wt%), the overall fuel utilization of the pyrolyzed sample declined from 24.6% to ~6.9%. In addition, if loading the steel slag (SS)‐based catalyst catalyst to the dried sample, its PPD at 850°C were almost doubled to 303 mW cm−2, but the fuel utilization reduced to 9.2%. Meanwhile, SOFCs using the medium‐density fiberboard (MDF) as fuel exhibited the parallel trends in electrochemical performance and fuel utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]