Reducing temperature difference of a direct ammonia tubular SOFC to 1K

Abstract

In this study, a three-dimensional direct ammonia solid oxide fuel cell (DA-SOFC) was numerically modeled to investigate the effects of ammonia inlet flow velocity, tube structure, and catalyst filling on the internal temperature distribution of the cell. The results show that shortening the length of the ammonia inlet tube and increasing the inlet flow velocity leads to an increase in the temperature difference inside the cell. By perforating the ammonia inlet tube, the temperature difference can be further reduced, and the low-temperature zone inside the cell gradually decreases with the perforated area percentage increasing. In addition, placing ammonia decomposition catalyst inside the perforated inlet tube can further improve the temperature difference between the electrodes inside the cell, reducing it from 30 K to about 1 K. Furthermore, the temperature distribution pattern inside the fuel cell with metal supports was investigated, and it was found that the metal support can better export the heat generated inside the fuel cell. This study provides a new idea to improve the temperature distribution of DA-SOFC and enhance the stability and reliability of cell operation.