The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Program, managed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) and administered by the FE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is currently developing low-cost SOFC power generation systems.  SOFC power systems have the potential to achieve greater than 60 percent efficiency. The SOFC’s operating temperature is lower than combustion-based processes and precludes the formation of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) pollutants. The SOFC’s produce near-zero-emissions of Carbon Dioxides (CO2), gaseous pollutants, and particulates. Furthermore, SOFC power systems require approximately one-third of the amount of water relative to conventional combustion-based power systems.

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The U.S. Department of Energy seeks to develop advanced technologies that can advance the present state of small-scale Solid Oxide Fuel Cell hybrid systems to the point of commercial readiness for hydrogen production and power generation by using solid oxide electrolyzer cell technologies. 

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As part of the DOE award selected to develop and demonstrate small scale Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems, Prof. Xueyan Song, Prof. Marcello Napolitano  are working with their industry partners, National Energy Technology Laboratory’s SOFC team led by Dr. Gregory Hackett, Dr. Harry Abernathy, Dr. Jay Liu, and Richard Pineault, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the direct systems implantations to the large facilities. We are demonstrating the resilient Fuel Cell Technology at a “premier” critical power host site with the NASA Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, led by Gregory Blaney (former Director of NASA's IV&V Program), and Wes Deadrick, Director of NASA's IV&V Program. In addition to supports DOE's mission of NET-ZERO OR NET-NEGATIVE CARBON EMISSIONS, the project also supports NASA Sustainability's mission of "micro-grid power generation" and "greenhouse gas reduction. This ongoing project integrates research and development while, most importantly, representing the largest practical validation and large-scale demonstration of fuel cell technology in West Virginia’s history.

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Professor Jacky Prucz, the former Chairman of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has supported and provided valuable guidance to Professors Song and Napolitano since the inception of this project, throughout the process of partnering with industry partners and the NASA IV&V center, along with the development of their successful research proposal. Professor Prucz has stated that this accomplishment is likely to further consolidate and strengthen the international reputation of WVU in general at the forefront of the current scientific and technological endeavors to advance the proliferation of clean energy utilization throughout the world and the various sectors of the global economy.