Simulation of the chemical/electrochemical reactions and heat/mass transfer for a tubular SOFC in a stack

The heat and species transport processes in a tubular type solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) that works in a cell stack were analyzed and modeled. Since most of the single tubular SOFCs working in a cell stack share the same/similar chemical/electrochemical and heat/mass transfer conditions, it is plausible to assume that heat and species are not exchanged between one cell and its neighboring cells. Therefore, a surrounding fuel flow space was outlined controllable by a specific single cell, for which zero flux was assumed at its boundary in neighborhood with other cells. The numerical model subjects such a cell and its controllable fuel flow space to a two-dimensional analysis for the flow, heat/mass transfer and chemical/electrochemical performance. Computations were performed for three different tubular SOFCs having practical operating results available from publications by different researchers. The numerical results of the terminal voltages for those different SOFCs showed very good agreement with the published experimental data. It is expectable that the proposed numerical model be used to significantly help the design and operation of a SOFC stack in practical applications. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.