Energies 2009, 2(2), 427-444; doi:10.3390/en20200427
Article

A Microscale Modeling Tool for the Design and Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Shixue Liu 1,2,3,4 email, Wei Kong 2 email and Zijing Lin 1,2,* email
1 Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China 2 Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China 3 Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China 4 Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 22 May 2009; in revised form: 9 June 2009 / Accepted: 10 June 2009 / Published: 23 June 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuel Cells)
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Abstract: A two dimensional numerical model of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with electrode functional layers is presented. The model incorporates the partial differential equations for mass transport, electric conduction and electrochemical reactions in the electrode functional layers, the anode support layer, the cathode current collection layer and at the electrode/electrolyte interfaces. A dusty gas model is used in modeling the gas transport in porous electrodes. The model is capable of providing results in good agreement with the experimental I-V relationship. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the applications of this numerical model as a tool for the design and optimization of SOFCs. For a stack assembly of a pitch width of 2 mm and an interconnect-electrode contact resistance of 0.025 Ωcm2, a typical SOFC stack cell should consist of a rib width of 0.9 mm, a cathode current collection layer thickness of 200–300 μm, a cathode functional layer thickness of 20–40 μm, and an anode functional layer thickness of 10–20 μm in order to achieve optimal performance.
Keywords: solid oxide fuel cell; functional layer; modeling tool; optimization; finite element method

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Liu, S.; Kong, W.; Lin, Z. A Microscale Modeling Tool for the Design and Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. Energies 2009, 2, 427-444.

AMA Style

Liu S, Kong W, Lin Z. A Microscale Modeling Tool for the Design and Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. Energies. 2009; 2(2):427-444.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Liu, Shixue; Kong, Wei; Lin, Zijing. 2009. "A Microscale Modeling Tool for the Design and Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells." Energies 2, no. 2: 427-444.

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