Numerical Analysis of Flow in U-Type Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stacks

Hao Yuan Yin, Kun Woo Yi, Young Jin Kim (), Hyeon Jin Kim, Kyong Sik Yun and Ji Haeng Yu ()
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Hao Yuan Yin: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hannam University, 70 Hannam-ro, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon 34430, Republic of Korea
Kun Woo Yi: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hannam University, 70 Hannam-ro, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon 34430, Republic of Korea
Young Jin Kim: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hannam University, 70 Hannam-ro, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon 34430, Republic of Korea
Hyeon Jin Kim: Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), 152 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
Kyong Sik Yun: Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), 152 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
Ji Haeng Yu: Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), 152 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: Numerical analysis of a U-type solid oxide fuel cell stack was performed using computational fluid dynamics to investigate the effects of stack capacities and fuel/air utilization rates on the internal flow uniformity. The results indicated that increasing the fuel/air utilization rate improved the gas flow uniformity within the stack for the same stack capacity. The uniformity in the anode fluid domain was better than that in the cathode fluid domain. Furthermore, the flow uniformity within the stack was associated with the percentage of pressure drop in the core region of the stack. The larger the percentage of pressure drop in the core region, the more uniform the flow inside the stack. Additionally, under a fuel utilization rate of 75%, the computational results exhibited excessively high fuel utilization rates in the top cell of a 3 kWe stack, indicating a potential risk of fuel depletion during actual stack operation.

Keywords: SOFC; stack; numerical analyses; pressure distribution; flow uniformity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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