Three-dimensional numerical study on a planar SOFC with different electrolyte thickness and operating temperature

In this study, a computational fluid dynamics of a ۳D solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is developed to check the effect of different electrolyte thicknesses and temperatures on planar SOFC. A numerical simulation is conducted to study the efficiency of a SOFC with three different electrolyte thicknesses (۷۰, ۱۰۰, and ۱۳۰) μm and temperatures ranging from ۶۰۰ °C to ۱۰۰۰ °C. The difference between the thicknesses is almost low and with increasing the thickness, the total cell power will decrease. The power density is increased when the thickness is decreased. This CFD study on planar SOFC represents that the electrolyte thickness is extremely relevant to the ohmic loss, which is an essential element to specify the efficiency of SOFC in different temperatures. The temperatures from ۶۰۰ °C to ۱۰۰۰ °C could be raised more because of active chemical reactions by hydrogen utilization

Keywords:

Solid oxide fuel cell , average cell power , cell voltage , average current density , electrolyte thickness , operating temperature