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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:

Researchers develop high-performance ceramic fuel cell that operates on butane gas:

A Korean research team has developed a high-performance ceramic fuel cell that can operate on butane fuels. Since butane can be liquefied and thus stored and transported easily, the new technology could expand the application range of ceramic fuel cells to portable and mobile applications such as electric cars, robots and drones. Previously, ceramic fuel cells had only been considered for application to large-capacity power generation systems due to their high-temperature operation.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that Dr. Son Ji-Won's research team at KIST's Center for Energy Materials Research had developed a high-performance, thin-film-based ceramic fuel cell that could operate at mid-to-low temperatures below 600 °C using butane fuels.

Ceramic fuel cells are a type of high-temperature fuel cell that operates over 800 degrees C. This high temperature allows the use of inexpensive catalysts, such as nickel, in contrast to low-temperature fuel cells, such as polymer electrolyte fuel cells, which use high-priced platinum catalysts to supplement their low catalytic activity. Another major advantage of high-temperature fuel cells is that they can [use] various fuels other than pure hydrogen, such as LPG and LNG with low emission due to high efficiency. [...] [A] limiting factor is that their system on-off process takes a long time due to the characteristics of high-temperature operation, which restrict their application to large-scale stationary power generation systems.

[...] "This research systematically examined the possible uses of hydrocarbon fuels in ceramic fuel cells operating at low temperatures," said Dr. Son Ji-won. "The use of the portable fuels like butane at lower operating temperatures would enable the development of smaller and integrated ceramic fuel cell systems, which can be applied to portable and mobile power sources."

Journal Reference: Cam-Anh Thieu et al. "Effect of secondary metal catalysts on butane internal steam reforming operation of thin-film solid oxide fuel cells at 500–600 °C", Applied Catalysis B: Environmental (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.118349

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