A general electrolyte-electrode-assembly modeling of solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are constructed by solid-state ceramic materials and generally operating temperature is between 1073K and 1273K. Due to high operating temperature, SOFCs are mostly applicable in power plant. Numerical modeling is a fundamental method for the advancement of SOFCs technology. Numerical models can help the investigation of the processing occurring inside the SOFCs and designed and optimized of SOFCs conditions by examining the effect of various operating conditions and designs. Two-dimensional and nonisothermal numerical model of SOFCs has been developed in this thesis. Reaction zone layers where electrochemical reactions occur to produce oxide ions, electrons and water vapor. Therefore, Effective diffusivity is included Knudsen diffusion in the porous electrode and reaction zone layers. The governing equations of species, charge and energy are solved for numerical solution using the finite volume method and computer language C++. In addition, the developed model is validated with experimental data and found the optimization condition by using various operating conditions.