Towards a sustainable society: Developing metallic materials to advance solid oxide technology

Important results from the project

The project focused on interconnects, a critical component of SOEC systems. SOEC technology can become important in producing hydrogen for the steel industry, the transport sector and the chemical industry. Interconnects account for a large part of the SOEC costs and cause degradation problems. In the project, new steels and new protective coatings have been developed and were tested in laboratory tests and in an operational SOEC plant. The goals that were set could be achieved.

Expected long term effects

The implementation of the newly developed material combination for coated interconnect plates should enable a more cost-effective SOEC technology, which in turn will lead to a greater use of the technology. A large-scale deployment of SOEC would lead to large savings (~15%) in the electricity required to produce hydrogen or other chemicals that today require fossil raw materials.

Approach and implementation

The project was started during the pandemic, which created delays and made physical meetings difficult. The schedule needed to be adjusted and the project was extended by six months. Further delays occurred in the production of new alloys due to unforeseen difficulties. The integration of new steels into a stack turned out to be more time-consuming than expected, as the material had to go through many process steps. Despite these difficulties, the project was largely able to follow the plan.