SOFC Stack and System Modeling, Fault Diagnosis and Control

Khaliq Ahmed,Amirpiran Amiri,Zongping Shao,Moses Tadé,Karl Föger,Periasamy Vijay

doi:10.21926/jept.2101004

Abstract

This report is an account of research and development activities undertaken by the Centre for Process Systems Computations, Department of Chemical Engineering at Curtin University, Western Australia in the area of solid oxide fuel cells. The focus of work of the group included 1)effect of cell macrostructure and microstructure on electrochemical performance with a view to optimise both macro- and micro-structure 2) electrochemistry modeling for simulating electrochemical performance 3) internal reforming aspects impacting performance at cell/stack and system levels 4) system level modeling investigating cell internal profiles (temperature, gas composition), homogeneity improvement, thermal management, anode recycle, fuel diversity, oxygen quality, and 5) monitoring for diagnostics, optimisation and control. The report summarizes work done over a period of 15 years and highlights areas of research gaps and future directions for research in the path to mass-scale commercialisation of the solid oxide fuel cell technology.

Highlights

Population growth and human activities - in particular, increased digitalization, transport electrification, consumption behaviour and rapid growth in the building sector are driving an increasing need for electricity
Amongst the different types of fuel cells, the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology, despite its challenges relating to durability and manufacturing cost, continues to draw attraction and attention by researchers and developers of commercial products for power generation
The most compelling reason for this, is the fact that the SOFC can contribute to a significant reduction in global emissions even when operating on a fossil fuel like the abundantly available reticulated pipeline natural gas, on account of the high efficiency of conversion of the chemical energy in the fuel to electrical energy and its ability to modulate power without significant efficiency loss

Summary

Introduction

Population growth and human activities - in particular, increased digitalization, transport electrification, consumption behaviour and rapid growth in the building (residential and commercial) sector are driving an increasing need for electricity. In this regard, fuel cells are attractive as they are highly efficient, practically noiseless and produce substantially lower emissions than conventional power plants. SOFC is the ideal technology to ensure a stable grid when combined with intermittent renewable sources, as well as enable the transition from fossil-fuel dependency to a sustainable world utilizing renewable energy sources for electricity generation. SOFC technology provides a solution in the transition period, it can be a part of the renewable solution as it is amenable to operating on renewable fuels like bio-ethanol, landfill gas and bio-gas and green hydrogen [3,4,5,6,7,8]

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion