June 29, 2020 – The Department of Energy awarded a contract to Skyhaven to develop a new class of sensors to operate within the harsh environment of solid oxide fuel cells. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) sensors are needed to detect multiple gases within the fuel and oxidant streams with operable temperatures in the 600 to 900 °C range. Quantification of these fuel and oxidant streams can improve the performance, cost, reliability and endurance of fuel cell systems via process control measures. In order for these SOFC sensors to offer beneficial effects, the sensors need to operate in real time in the harsh temperature range with compatibility to the variable fuel constituents in minimally invasive designs that do not impede SOFC system performance. Furthermore, it is desired to integrate these sensors throughout SOFC systems to quantify chemical constituent concentrations thus necessitating low cost methods, yet that are durable for 40,000 hour operational lifetimes. To meet this market need, Skyhaven will develop a ceramic-based SOFC sensor that can quantify the chemical concentrations of fuel mixtures for the anode flow stream as well as function in the cathode flow stream for assessing the oxidant composition.