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Influence of Radial Flows on Power Density and Gas Stream Pressure Drop of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Author

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  • Abdellah Essaghouri

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Zezhi Zeng

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • 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

The development of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for powering vehicles requires high power densities. The radial flows generated by the insert structures in SOFC fuel channels could improve the power density by facilitating the fuel to enter the porous anode for electrochemical reactions. In this paper, we developed a 2D axisymmetric numerical model to examine the influence of a convergent conical ring insert on the flow and mass transfer characteristics in a tubular SOFC. The mass transfer conductance of fuel was analyzed and proposed to quantify the performance of different insert designs. The effects of the radius and offset angle of the convergent conical ring insert were examined and analyzed. We demonstrate that increasing the insert radius could increase the fuel mass transfer conductance and effectively improve the net output power of the tubular SOFC by 12% while the offset angle of the inserts exhibits a negligible impact on the fuel mass transfer conductance. Increasing the offset angle could help reduce the gas-phase pressure drop in fuel channels by 42%. The present study helps improve our understanding of the relationship between fuel mass transfer conductance and electrochemical reactions. It also proposes channel design methods based on mass transfer conductance for high-power-density solid oxide fuel cells.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:21:p:7875-:d:951523
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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).
    2. 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.
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    7. 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.
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