IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v190y2017icp1234-1244.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A multiphysics fully coupled modeling tool for the design and operation analysis of planar solid oxide fuel cell stacks

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Ang
  • Song, Ce
  • Lin, Zijing

Abstract

A planar SOFC stack is an integral but basic power generation unit with physical conditions completely different from that of a laboratory button cell. The ability to reliably predict the operating behaviors of SOFC stacks is crucial for the technology advancement. The existing stack models either rely on simplified geometries, or handle a few selected fields that are relatively easy to couple. This paper reports the first successful development of a high geometry resolution, multiphysics fully coupled numerical model for production scale planar SOFC stacks. The computational model is developed through in-house developed multiphysics modules combined with commercial software FLUENT®. All stack components such as flow channels, manifolds, cathode-electrolyte-anode assemblies, interconnects, seals and frames are resolved in the numerical grids. The mathematical model includes the fully coupled equations of momentum, mass, species, heat and charge transports, electrochemical reaction, and methane steam reforming and shift reactions. An accurate relationship between the O2 transport and electrochemistry within the cathode-rib structure is established and used to enhance the numerical efficiency of the stack model. The stack model is validated with the experimental data. The numerical stability and modeling capability of this multiphysics stack model are illustrated by simulating a 30-cell stack of 27 million grid points. Detailed information about the distributions of flows, temperature, current and chemical species, etc, is revealed. Comparative studies show that the results obtained by simplifications of stack geometries or reductions of multiphysics couplings are unreliable, illustrating the necessity of employing a true multiphysics computational tool.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Ang & Song, Ce & Lin, Zijing, 2017. "A multiphysics fully coupled modeling tool for the design and operation analysis of planar solid oxide fuel cell stacks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 1234-1244.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:190:y:2017:i:c:p:1234-1244
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.01.034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261917300417
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.01.034?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Menon, Vikram & Banerjee, Aayan & Dailly, Julian & Deutschmann, Olaf, 2015. "Numerical analysis of mass and heat transport in proton-conducting SOFCs with direct internal reforming," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 161-175.
    2. Arpino, F. & Massarotti, N., 2009. "Numerical simulation of mass and energy transport phenomena in solid oxide fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2033-2041.
    3. Wang, Baoxuan & Zhu, Jiang & Lin, Zijing, 2016. "A theoretical framework for multiphysics modeling of methane fueled solid oxide fuel cell and analysis of low steam methane reforming kinetics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 1-11.
    4. Xu, Haoran & Chen, Bin & Liu, Jiang & Ni, Meng, 2016. "Modeling of direct carbon solid oxide fuel cell for CO and electricity cogeneration," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 353-362.
    5. He, Zhongjie & Birgersson, E. & Li, Hua, 2014. "Reduced non-isothermal model for the planar solid oxide fuel cell and stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 478-492.
    6. Amedi, Hamid Reza & Bazooyar, Bahamin & Pishvaie, Mahmoud Reza, 2015. "Control of anode supported SOFCs (solid oxide fuel cells): Part I. mathematical modeling and state estimation within one cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P1), pages 605-621.
    7. Iwai, H. & Yamamoto, Y. & Saito, M. & Yoshida, H., 2011. "Numerical simulation of intermediate-temperature direct-internal-reforming planar solid oxide fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 2225-2234.
    8. Fardadi, Mahshid & McLarty, Dustin F. & Jabbari, Faryar, 2016. "Investigation of thermal control for different SOFC flow geometries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 43-55.
    9. Al-Masri, A. & Peksen, M. & Blum, L. & Stolten, D., 2014. "A 3D CFD model for predicting the temperature distribution in a full scale APU SOFC short stack under transient operating conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 539-547.
    10. Brian C. H. Steele & Angelika Heinzel, 2001. "Materials for fuel-cell technologies," Nature, Nature, vol. 414(6861), pages 345-352, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zheng Li & Guogang Yang & Qiuwan Shen & Shian Li & Hao Wang & Jiadong Liao & Ziheng Jiang & Guoling Zhang, 2022. "Transient Multi-Physics Modeling and Performance Degradation Evaluation of Direct Internal Reforming Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Focusing on Carbon Deposition Effect," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-20, December.
    2. Karol K. Śreniawski & Maciej Chalusiak & Marcin Moździerz & Janusz S. Szmyd & Grzegorz Brus, 2023. "Transport Phenomena in a Banded Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack—Part 1: Model and Validation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-25, June.
    3. Zarabi Golkhatmi, Sanaz & Asghar, Muhammad Imran & Lund, Peter D., 2022. "A review on solid oxide fuel cell durability: Latest progress, mechanisms, and study tools," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Zhu, Pengfei & Wu, Zhen & Yang, Yuchen & Wang, Huan & Li, Ruiqing & Yang, Fusheng & Zhang, Zaoxiao, 2023. "The dynamic response of solid oxide fuel cell fueled by syngas during the operating condition variations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    5. Kishimoto, Masashi & Kishida, Shohei & Seo, Haewon & Iwai, Hiroshi & Yoshida, Hideo, 2021. "Prediction of electrochemical characteristics of practical-size solid oxide fuel cells based on database of unit cell performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    6. Xu, Boshi & Yang, Yang & Li, Jun & Ye, Dingding & Wang, Yang & Zhang, Liang & Zhu, Xun & Liao, Qiang, 2024. "A comprehensive study of parameters distribution in a short PEM water electrolyzer stack utilizing a full-scale multi-physics model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    7. Zaghloul, Mohamed A.S. & Mason, Jerry H. & Wang, Mohan & Buric, Michael & Peng, Zhaoqiang & Lee, Shiwoo & Ohodnicki, Paul & Abernathy, Harry & Chen, Kevin Peng, 2021. "High spatial resolution temperature profile measurements of solid-oxide fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    8. Zeng, Zezhi & Qian, Yuping & Zhang, Yangjun & Hao, Changkun & Dan, Dan & Zhuge, Weilin, 2020. "A review of heat transfer and thermal management methods for temperature gradient reduction in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    9. Wehrle, Lukas & Schmider, Daniel & Dailly, Julian & Banerjee, Aayan & Deutschmann, Olaf, 2022. "Benchmarking solid oxide electrolysis cell-stacks for industrial Power-to-Methane systems via hierarchical multi-scale modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    10. Shao, Qian & Gao, Enlai & Mara, Thierry & Hu, Heng & Liu, Tong & Makradi, Ahmed, 2020. "Global sensitivity analysis of solid oxide fuel cells with Bayesian sparse polynomial chaos expansions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    11. Tanaka, T. & Inui, Y. & Pongratz, G. & Subotić, V. & Hochenauer, C., 2021. "Numerical investigation on the performance and detection of an industrial-sized planar solid oxide fuel cell with fuel gas leakage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    12. Fang, Xiurong & Lin, Zijing, 2018. "Numerical study on the mechanical stress and mechanical failure of planar solid oxide fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 63-68.
    13. Gong, Chengyuan & Tu, Zhengkai & Hwa Chan, Siew, 2023. "A novel flow field design with flow re-distribution for advanced thermal management in Solid oxide fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    14. Miao, Xing-Yuan & Rizvandi, Omid Babaie & Navasa, Maria & Frandsen, Henrik Lund, 2021. "Modelling of local mechanical failures in solid oxide cell stacks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    15. Guo, Meiting & Ru, Xiao & Yang, Lin & Ni, Meng & Lin, Zijing, 2022. "Effects of methane steam reforming on the mechanical stability of solid oxide fuel cell stack," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rashid, Kashif & Dong, Sang Keun & Mehran, Muhammad Taqi & Lee, Dong Won, 2017. "Design and analysis of compact hotbox for solid oxide fuel cell based 1kW-class power generation system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 620-636.
    2. Zeng, Zezhi & Qian, Yuping & Zhang, Yangjun & Hao, Changkun & Dan, Dan & Zhuge, Weilin, 2020. "A review of heat transfer and thermal management methods for temperature gradient reduction in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    3. Lee, Sanghyeok & Park, Mansoo & Kim, Hyoungchul & Yoon, Kyung Joong & Son, Ji-Won & Lee, Jong-Ho & Kim, Byung-Kook & Choi, Wonjoon & Hong, Jongsup, 2017. "Thermal conditions and heat transfer characteristics of high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells investigated by three-dimensional numerical simulations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 293-305.
    4. Kishimoto, Masashi & Kishida, Shohei & Seo, Haewon & Iwai, Hiroshi & Yoshida, Hideo, 2021. "Prediction of electrochemical characteristics of practical-size solid oxide fuel cells based on database of unit cell performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    5. Shao, Qian & Gao, Enlai & Mara, Thierry & Hu, Heng & Liu, Tong & Makradi, Ahmed, 2020. "Global sensitivity analysis of solid oxide fuel cells with Bayesian sparse polynomial chaos expansions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    6. Kupecki, Jakub & Motylinski, Konrad & Milewski, Jaroslaw, 2018. "Dynamic analysis of direct internal reforming in a SOFC stack with electrolyte-supported cells using a quasi-1D model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 198-205.
    7. Rokni, Masoud, 2014. "Biomass gasification integrated with a solid oxide fuel cell and Stirling engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 6-18.
    8. Guk, Erdogan & Venkatesan, Vijay & Babar, Shumaila & Jackson, Lisa & Kim, Jung-Sik, 2019. "Parameters and their impacts on the temperature distribution and thermal gradient of solid oxide fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 164-173.
    9. Zeng, Hongyu & Wang, Yuqing & Shi, Yixiang & Cai, Ningsheng & Yuan, Dazhong, 2018. "Highly thermal integrated heat pipe-solid oxide fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 613-619.
    10. Khazaee, I. & Rava, A., 2017. "Numerical simulation of the performance of solid oxide fuel cell with different flow channel geometries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 235-244.
    11. Dang, Zheng & Xu, Han, 2016. "Pore scale investigation of gaseous mixture flow in porous anode of solid oxide fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 295-304.
    12. Rashid, Kashif & Dong, Sang Keun & Mehran, Muhammad Taqi, 2017. "Numerical investigations to determine the optimal operating conditions for 1 kW-class flat-tubular solid oxide fuel cell stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 673-691.
    13. Nerat, Marko, 2017. "Modeling and analysis of short-period transient response of a single, planar, anode supported, solid oxide fuel cell during load variations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 728-738.
    14. Xenos, Dionysios P. & Hofmann, Philipp & Panopoulos, Kyriakos D. & Kakaras, Emmanuel, 2015. "Detailed transient thermal simulation of a planar SOFC (solid oxide fuel cell) using gPROMS™," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 84-102.
    15. Mounir, Hamid & Belaiche, Mohamed & El Marjani, Abdellatif & El Gharad, Abdellah, 2014. "Thermal stress and probability of survival investigation in a multi-bundle integrated-planar solid oxide fuel cells IP-SOFC (integrated-planar solid oxide fuel cell)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 378-386.
    16. He, Zhongjie & Birgersson, E. & Li, Hua, 2014. "Reduced non-isothermal model for the planar solid oxide fuel cell and stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 478-492.
    17. Silva-Mosqueda, Dulce María & Elizalde-Blancas, Francisco & Pumiglia, Davide & Santoni, Francesca & Boigues-Muñoz, Carlos & McPhail, Stephen J., 2019. "Intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell under internal reforming: Critical operating conditions, associated problems and their impact on the performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 625-640.
    18. Guk, Erdogan & Kim, Jung-Sik & Ranaweera, Manoj & Venkatesan, Vijay & Jackson, Lisa, 2018. "In-situ monitoring of temperature distribution in operating solid oxide fuel cell cathode using proprietary sensory techniques versus commercial thermocouples," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 551-562.
    19. Shi, Wangying & Zhu, Jianzhong & Han, Minfang & Sun, Zaihong & Guo, Yaming, 2019. "Operating limitation and degradation modeling of micro solid oxide fuel cell-combined heat and power system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Fang, Xiurong & Lin, Zijing, 2018. "Numerical study on the mechanical stress and mechanical failure of planar solid oxide fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 63-68.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:190:y:2017:i:c:p:1234-1244. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.