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Numerical multi-physical optimization of operating condition and current collecting setup for large-area solid oxide fuel cells

  • Research Article
  • Special Issue: Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion
  • Published:
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Abstract

Due to the depletion of traditional fossil fuels and the aggravation of related environmental problems, hydrogen energy is gaining more attention all over the world. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is a promising power generation technology operating on hydrogen with a high efficiency. To further boost the power output of a single cell and thus a single stack, increasing the cell area is an effective route. However, it was recently found that further increasing the effective area of an SOFC single cell with a flat-tubular structure and symmetric double-sided cathodes would result in a lower areal performance. In this work, a multi-physical model is built to study the effect of the effective area on the cell performance. The distribution of different physical fields is systematically analyzed. Optimization of the cell performance is also pursued by systematically tuning the cell operating condition and the current collection setup. An improvement of 42% is revealed by modifying the inlet gas flow rates and by enhancing the current collection. In the future, optimization of cell geometry will be performed to improve the homogeneity of different physical fields and thus to improve the stability of the cell.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11802106, 11932005, U20A20251, and 52102226), the Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality (Grant No. GJHZ2022091314300 9017), and the Development and Reform Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, China (Grant No. XMHT20220103004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Chengrong Yu, Zehua Pan, Hongying Zhang, Zheng Zhong & Yexin Zhou

  2. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Deep Earth Sciences and Geothermal Energy Exploitation and Utilization, Institute of Deep Earth Sciences and Green Energy, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China

    Bin Chen

  3. Key Laboratory of Advanced Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Technology of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, China

    Wanbing Guan

  4. Energy Research Institute at NTU (ERIAN), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Bin Miao & Siew Hwa Chan

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  1. Chengrong Yu
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  2. Zehua Pan
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  3. Hongying Zhang
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  4. Bin Chen
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  8. Zheng Zhong
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  9. Yexin Zhou
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Correspondence to Zehua Pan or Yexin Zhou.

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Yu, C., Pan, Z., Zhang, H. et al. Numerical multi-physical optimization of operating condition and current collecting setup for large-area solid oxide fuel cells. Front. Energy (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0919-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0919-z

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