Silver wire seal design for planar solid oxide fuel cell stack

A method for sealing solid oxide fuel cells with silver wire gaskets was developed and tested. The 1.6mm diameter gaskets were fitted into machined channels, 1.5mm deep in the interconnect plates. The channels were machined into 430 stainless steel plate along the edge of both surfaces and around alternate gas inlets. The interconnect plates were 6.35mm thick, 152.4mm long and 76.2mm wide. A one-cell-stack was assembled for pressure testing with a stainless steel sheet in place of the ceramic membrane. The gas connections were brazed to the stack with a nickel–chromium brazing alloy. The apparatus was bolted together and tested for gas leakage at 137.8kPa between room temperature and 500°C. At room temperature, the measured leak rate was 5.14kPamin−1. With the stack heated to 500°C, the leak rate decreased to 75.8Pamin−1.