Thermal effects of planar high temperature heat pipes in solid oxide cell stacks operated with internal methane reforming

Abstract

The presented paper contributes to developing a new thermal control approach for solid oxide cell (SOC) stacks and systems. Integrating planar liquid metal heat pipes to the interconnector structure of the stacks targets a reduction of internal temperature gradients and an enhanced heat extraction from the stack. This work applies 3-D CFD-modelling to discuss the thermal effects of integrated heat pipes in solid oxide cell stacks, in order to evaluate the possible benefits in terms of temperature gradient reduction and heat removal as well as the resulting benefits for stacks and systems. The stack model set-up is described and its functioning is validated with experimental results from thermal short stack measurements with integrated heat pipe interconnectors. The simulation results are discussed with respect to the possible benefits for full-scale stacks of different cell size, in particular regarding internal heat recycling and the beneficial reduction of air ratios.