Solid Oxide Membrane Electrolyzer Utilizing the Energy Value in Solid and Gaseous Reductant for Hydrogen Production

This paper describes a novel Solid Oxide Membrane (SOM) electrolyzer that can utilize the energy value in any carbon and hydrocarbon reductant to lower the energy requirement for hydrogen production from steam. The Solid Oxide Membrane (SOM) electrolyzer consists of a one-end closed oxygen-ion conducting yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) tube with Ni-YSZ cathode coated on the outside and liquid metal anode inside the tube. In the SOM electrolyzer steam is reduced at the cathode and the oxygen produced on the anodic side reacts with the reductant supplied in the liquid metal anode. In the present study the SOM electrolyzer is evaluated using solid carbon and humidified hydrogen as reductant.