INVESTIGATION OF THE SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL (SOFC) BY MEANS OF CFD SIMULATION

In this research, computational fluid dynamics simulations are employed to investigate the behavior of the flow and electrochemistry of planer-type solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The flow distributions in the cathode and anode of an original SOFC are simulated, and the results well agree with the experiments. To reduce non-flow areas in the cathode and anode and hence increase the operating life of the cell, a number of improved flow channel layouts are proposed and simulated. The most effective layout shows a significant reduction of non-flow areas improving flow and temperature distributions throughout the cell. However, as compared to the original SOFC, the electrical power density of the most effective channel SOFC is 12.5% lower. Further investigations are required to improve the flow and temperature distributions and increase the output power.