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Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Center of Economic Excellence
Inception: About the Center: The Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Center is part of the larger University of South Carolina (USC) Future Fuels™ Initiative, which works to develop new fuel and energy choices, which are becoming increasingly important as the United States and other nations look to reduce their reliance on carbon-based fuel. Solid oxide fuel cells are one of the leading types of fuel cells available for commercialization. They can be used in large, high-power systems such as in full-scale industrial and large-scale electricity generating stations. The Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Center is working to remove barriers to the use of solid oxide fuel cells by designing components to accommodate variations in temperature and transport associated with practical uses, understanding long-term behavior and durability of solid oxide, developing testing protocols that simulate solid oxide fuel cells’ behavior over their lifetime, and developing systems for stationary power generation. Work associated with this Center has led to the creation of a “cleant tech” startup company, NextGenn, Inc. The company is engaged in research and development in the areas of materials, mechanics, durability, systems, controls, fabrication, and manufacturing of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and related technologies to develop and commercialize SOFC-based products. Currently, this Center has federal and private research funding totaling more than $10 million. USC has the nation’s only National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Fuel Cells (CFC). Through the CFC, USC is collaborating with the Korea Institute of Energy Research, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy in Germany, and 20 national industrial partners. To learn more about Centers of Economic Excellence fuel cell research at USC, click here. Funding level: SmartState Endowed Chair:
USC Centers of Economic Excellence researcher Dr. Chris Xue explains measurement parameters to Ph.D. student Xinfang Jin in the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Center laboratory.
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