Simulation of a Flat-Tube Solid Oxide Fuel Cell with Symmetric Double-Sided Cathode Considering Different Fuel Compositions

Abstract

Due to its high operating temperature, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) can use a variant of hydrocarbon fuels. Then the methane steam reforming (MSR) and water gas shift (WGS) reactions are active within the anode during the energy conversion process. On one hand, the air velocity controls the heat within a SOFC, e.g., through control of heat convection, on the other hand, the internal endothermal reactions also have an impact on the heat balance through different fuel composition. It should be noted that the carbon deposition greatly reduces the catalytic property of the anode material.The reforming process can be synthetized by the following electrochemical reactions:2CO ↔ C(s)+ CO2 (1)CO+H2 ↔ C(s)+H2O (2)C n H2n+2 ↔ nC(s)+(n+1)H2 (3)Thus, it is important to investigate the effect of internal reforming reactions of different fuel composition on cell performance.Numerical simulations can reduce the cost of experimental design and achieve desirable accuracy. A flat-tube SOFC with a symmetric double-sided cathode is built using the commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics®. Our model includes the simulation of the ion, electron, momentum, heat, and mass transport phenomena. Also, MSR and WGS reactions are considered in the model. The geometric representation of the flat-tube SOFC anode is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1