In situ infrared thermography of full-scale solid oxide fuel cell

The paper presents the original results of thermal imaging of the anodic surface of a full-size solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) during operation. In this work, a commercially available fuel cell with a circular shape and a diameter of 100 mm was used. It is new to determine the emissivity of the anode surface of the tested cell. The emissivity of the anodic surface of the fuel cell was determined to be from 0.95 to 0.48 in the temperature range 300–800 °C and the profile and temperature distribution of the anodic surface of the unloaded cell was given. The surface temperature of the cell was determined during operation and the polarity changes from OCV (open circuit voltage) to 0.0 V. It was found that the cell self-heating effect decreases with increasing temperature of the cell. •Thermal images of anodic surface of a full-size Solid Oxide Fuel Cell were made.•Emissivity characteristics of the anode surface has been performed.•Temperature distribution along with electrical measurements were made in-situ.