Recent Results of the SOFC APU Development at DLR

In recent years, SOFC technology has attained high interest for electrical power supply in vehicles as an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) that operates independently from the main engine. In this paper, recent results are reported that have been achieved at DLR in adapting the DLR spray concept to the needs of an APU design based on plasma sprayed cells. Some major issues such as the porous metallic substrate, the characterization of the plasma sprayed cathode, the behavior of plasma sprayed cells during cycling experiments, and the development and application of an analytical tool for spatially-resolved electrochemical characterization are addressed.