CFD Modeling and Analysis of a Planar Anode Supported Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

N. Lemcoff[1], M. Tweedie[2]
[1]Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Hartford, Hartford, CT, USA
[2]Enthone, West Haven, CT, USA
Publié en 2014

A planar anode-supported intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell operating on syngas fuel at 750°C was analyzed in this study. The effects of varying syngas fuel inlet compositions on species and temperature distributions, water gas shift reaction rate, potential for carbon formation and electrochemistry were considered. A 2-D COMSOL® model was developed which included separate defined electrochemical reaction layers on either side of the electrolyte. The model consisted of 5 submodels including the Navier Stokes equations, Maxwell-Stefan model, Knudsen diffusion, and Butler-Volmer type kinetics. Resulting polarization curves showed good agreement with experimental data, and the best simulated performance was found for high fuel inlet concentrations of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, resulting in a maximum power density of 720W/m².