Studies on the initial behaviours of the molten carbonate fuel cell

Mathematical modelling of the unsteady-state of a unit molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) has been made. The behaviour of the fuel cell at the beginning of the operation is observed. The effects of the molar flow rates of gases and the utilization of fuel gas are studied. The current density decreases with time and reaches a steady-state value of 0.14 A cm(-2) at 0.58 s for the chosen reference conditions. As the inlet gas-flow rates or the hydrogen utilization are increased, the time required to reach a steady-state decreases. With increased flow rates of the anode and cathode gases, the average current density is high and the total concentration is low. The current density increases with increasing utilization of hydrogen. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.