Structural design and optimization for a 20-cell solid oxide fuel cell stack based on flow uniformity and pressure drop

Abstract

This study analyzed the influence of channel resistance, inlet flow rate, manifold depth and other related parameters on the gas distribution uniformity and pressure drop in an external 20-cell solid oxide fuel cell stack by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. It provides a basis for determining the physical and geometric parameters of the stack. Furthermore, the flared inlet tube structure shows the effect of controlling the initial velocity of gas inflow and buffering; the flared outlet tube structure has the benefit of reducing the local pressure loss and the pressure drop. Combined with the perforated sheet structure, the gas in the inlet manifold is redistributed to improve the uniformity of gas flow. Compared with the basic model, the pressure drop of perforated sheet stack was reduced by 17.6% from 349.5 Pa to 288.5 Pa, and the gas flow uniformity index of that was reduced from 4.06% to 0.22%.