The environmental impact of manufacturing planar and tubular solid oxide fuel cells

This paper examines the environmental impact of manufacturing two types of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system. The tubular SOFC (based on a 100 kW Siemens–Westinghouse design), and the planar SOFC (based on a 1 kW Sulzer design). Using different levels of detail, the environmental impact of the manufacture of the PEN and interconnect, the balance of plant and the production of precursor materials has been assessed for both systems. The results demonstrate that the production and supply of materials for the manufacture of both the balance of plant and the fuel cell are responsible for a significant share of the overall environmental burden associated with each of the fuel cell systems studied. Nonetheless, the total emissions associated with the manufacturing stage still only contribute an additional 1% to lifetime CO2 emissions for both fuel cell types. The relative contribution arising from the manufacturing phase to several other regulated pollutants is high, but this reflects the low levels associated with the SOFC in use phase, rather than indicating a significant burden arising from manufacture. It is proposed that end-of-life reuse or recycling could play a key role in further reducing environmental burdens.