IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i19p7048-d924899.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Radial and Circumferential Flows on Power Density Improvements of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Author

Listed:
  • Abdellah Essaghouri

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Zezhi Zeng

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Bingguo Zhao

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Changkun Hao

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Yuping Qian

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Weilin Zhuge

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Yangjun Zhang

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

Abstract

Improving the power density of SOFC stacks will accelerate their integration into mobile applications. We developed a 3D Multiphysics model validated by experimental results from early studies to examine the effect of radial and circumferential flows on the power density improvements in a micro-tubular SOFC. The inserts were placed inside the fuel channel to generate flow in different directions. The effects of geometric parameters of these inserts on flow and mass transfer in the fuel channel and porous anode were analyzed. We demonstrate that the radial flow enables the fuel to penetrate directly into the porous anode, increasing the local fuel concentration and enhancing the fuel diffusion to the anode triple-phase boundaries. We found that the circumferential flow has a negligible effect on the diffusion process in the anode and on the increase in power density. The impact of local convective and diffusive mass transfer mechanisms on power density improvement is analyzed using the local Péclet number along the axial direction. Enlarging the radial velocity component perpendicular to the porous anode could effectively increase the power density of the micro-tubular SOFC by 37%. This study helps improve our understanding of mass transfer in fuel channels and helps build a foundation for SOFC channel designs and optimizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdellah Essaghouri & Zezhi Zeng & Bingguo Zhao & Changkun Hao & Yuping Qian & Weilin Zhuge & Yangjun Zhang, 2022. "Effects of Radial and Circumferential Flows on Power Density Improvements of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-21, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:19:p:7048-:d:924899
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7048/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7048/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fernandes, A. & Woudstra, T. & van Wijk, A. & Verhoef, L. & Aravind, P.V., 2016. "Fuel cell electric vehicle as a power plant and SOFC as a natural gas reformer: An exergy analysis of different system designs," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 13-28.
    2. Chen, Bin & Xu, Haoran & Ni, Meng, 2017. "Modelling of SOEC-FT reactor: Pressure effects on methanation process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 814-824.
    3. 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.
    4. Chen, Bin & Xu, Haoran & Tan, Peng & Zhang, Yuan & Xu, Xiaoming & Cai, Weizi & Chen, Meina & Ni, Meng, 2019. "Thermal modelling of ethanol-fuelled Solid Oxide Fuel Cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 476-486.
    5. Wei, S.-S. & Wang, T.-H. & Wu, J.-S., 2014. "Numerical modeling of interconnect flow channel design and thermal stress analysis of a planar anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 553-561.
    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. Abdellah Essaghouri & Zezhi Zeng & Bingguo Zhao & Changkun Hao & Yuping Qian & Weilin Zhuge & Yangjun Zhang, 2022. "Influence of Radial Flows on Power Density and Gas Stream Pressure Drop of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-21, October.

    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. Abdellah Essaghouri & Zezhi Zeng & Bingguo Zhao & Changkun Hao & Yuping Qian & Weilin Zhuge & Yangjun Zhang, 2022. "Influence of Radial Flows on Power Density and Gas Stream Pressure Drop of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-21, October.
    2. Zhen Zhang & Chengzhi Guan & Leidong Xie & Jian-Qiang Wang, 2022. "Design and Analysis of a Novel Opposite Trapezoidal Flow Channel for Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell Stack," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. 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).
    4. 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).
    5. Promsen, Mungmuang & Komatsu, Yosuke & Sciazko, Anna & Kaneko, Shozo & Shikazono, Naoki, 2020. "Feasibility study on saturated water cooled solid oxide fuel cell stack," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    6. Wu, Zhen & Tan, Peng & Chen, Bin & Cai, Weizi & Chen, Meina & Xu, Xiaoming & Zhang, Zaoxiao & Ni, Meng, 2019. "Dynamic modeling and operation strategy of an NG-fueled SOFC-WGS-TSA-PEMFC hybrid energy conversion system for fuel cell vehicle by using MATLAB/SIMULINK," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 567-579.
    7. Wang, Chao & Liao, Mingzheng & Liang, Bo & Jiang, Zhiqiang & Zhong, Weilin & Chen, Ying & Luo, Xianglong & Shu, Riyang & Tian, Zhipeng & Lei, Libin, 2021. "Enhancement effect of catalyst support on indirect hydrogen production from propane partial oxidation towards commercial solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    8. Chen, Bin & Xu, Haoran & Tan, Peng & Zhang, Yuan & Xu, Xiaoming & Cai, Weizi & Chen, Meina & Ni, Meng, 2019. "Thermal modelling of ethanol-fuelled Solid Oxide Fuel Cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 476-486.
    9. 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.
    10. Guo, Xinru & Guo, Yumin & Wang, Jiangfeng & Meng, Xin & Deng, Bohao & Wu, Weifeng & Zhao, Pan, 2023. "Thermodynamic analysis of a novel combined heating and power system based on low temperature solid oxide fuel cell (LT-SOFC) and high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    11. Mendiburu, Andrés Z. & Lauermann, Carlos H. & Hayashi, Thamy C. & Mariños, Diego J. & Rodrigues da Costa, Roberto Berlini & Coronado, Christian J.R. & Roberts, Justo J. & de Carvalho, João A., 2022. "Ethanol as a renewable biofuel: Combustion characteristics and application in engines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    12. Chen, Yanbo & Luo, Yu & Shi, Yixiang & Cai, Ningsheng, 2020. "Theoretical modeling of a pressurized tubular reversible solid oxide cell for methane production by co-electrolysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    13. Wang, Chaoyang & Chen, Ming & Liu, Ming & Yan, Junjie, 2020. "Dynamic modeling and parameter analysis study on reversible solid oxide cells during mode switching transient processes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    14. 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.
    15. Karol K. Śreniawski & Marcin Moździerz & Grzegorz Brus & Janusz S. Szmyd, 2023. "Transport Phenomena in a Banded Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack—Part 2: Numerical Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-21, June.
    16. Li, Haolong & Wei, Wei & Liu, Fengxia & Xu, Xiaofei & Li, Zhiyi & Liu, Zhijun, 2023. "Identification of internal polarization dynamics for solid oxide fuel cells investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and distribution of relaxation times," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    17. Wang, Zhiwen & Xiong, Wei & Ting, David S.-K. & Carriveau, Rupp & Wang, Zuwen, 2016. "Conventional and advanced exergy analyses of an underwater compressed air energy storage system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 810-822.
    18. Jee Min Park & Dae Yun Kim & Jong Dae Baek & Yong-Jin Yoon & Pei-Chen Su & Seong Hyuk Lee, 2018. "Effect of Electrolyte Thickness on Electrochemical Reactions and Thermo-Fluidic Characteristics inside a SOFC Unit Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, February.
    19. Reznicek, Evan P. & Braun, Robert J., 2020. "Reversible solid oxide cell systems for integration with natural gas pipeline and carbon capture infrastructure for grid energy management," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    20. Habibollahzade, Ali & Gholamian, Ehsan & Behzadi, Amirmohammad, 2019. "Multi-objective optimization and comparative performance analysis of hybrid biomass-based solid oxide fuel cell/solid oxide electrolyzer cell/gas turbine using different gasification agents," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 985-1002.

    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:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:19:p:7048-:d:924899. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.