Gas-flow uniformity and cell performance in a molten carbonate fuel cell stack

An examination is made of the relationships between the gas-flow uniformity in the planar direction, the gas-flow uniformity in the stacking direction, and the cell performance in a co-flow type molten carbonate fuel cell stack. A simulation code that accounts for the effects of electrochemical reactions, heat transfer, and gas flow is used to calculate the cell performance (i.e. cell temperature, current density and cell voltage) for various gas-flow uniformity levels in both the planar and the stacking directions. A comparison is made of the effects of the two kinds of gas flow uniformity on the cell performance.