Thermo-Electro-Chemo-Mechanical Coupled Modeling of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell with LSCF-GDC Composite Cathode

Intricate relationships between transport phenomena, reaction mechanisms, and mechanical aspects likely affect the durability of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack. This study presents a modeling framework that combines thermo-electro-chemo models (including the methanol conversion process and the electrochemical reactions of the carbon monoxide as well as the hydrogen) and a contact thermo-mechanical model that considers the effective mechanical properties of composite electrode material. Detailed parametric studies are performed focusing on the inlet fuel species (hydrogen, methanol syngas) and flow arrangements (co-flow, counter-flow) under typical operating conditions (operating voltage 0.7 V), and performance indicators of the cell, such as the high-temperature zone, current density, and maximum thermal stress were discussed for parameter optimization. The simulated results show that the high temperature zone of the hydrogen-fueled SOFC is located at the central part of units 5, 6, and 7, and the maximum value is about 40 K higher than that of methanol syngas-fueled SOFC. The charge transfer reactions can occur throughout the cathode layer. The counter-flow improves the trend of the current density distribution of hydrogen-fueled SOFC, while the effect on the current density distribution of methanol syngas-fueled SOFC is small. The distribution characteristics of the stress field within SOFC are extremely complex, and the inhomogeneity of the stress field distribution can be effectively improved by feeding methanol syngas. The counter-flow improves the stress distribution state of the electrolyte layer of methanol syngas-fueled SOFC, and the maximum tensile stress value is reduced by about 37.7%.