Effects of Radial and Circumferential Flows on Power Density Improvements of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
Improving the power density of SOFC stacks will accelerate their integration into mobile applications. We developed a 3D Multiphysics model validated by experimental results from early studies to examine the effect of radial and circumferential flows on the power density improvements in a micro-tubu...
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7048 |
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| author | Abdellah Essaghouri Zezhi Zeng Bingguo Zhao Changkun Hao Yuping Qian Weilin Zhuge Yangjun Zhang |
| author_facet | Abdellah Essaghouri Zezhi Zeng Bingguo Zhao Changkun Hao Yuping Qian Weilin Zhuge Yangjun Zhang |
| author_sort | Abdellah Essaghouri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Improving the power density of SOFC stacks will accelerate their integration into mobile applications. We developed a 3D Multiphysics model validated by experimental results from early studies to examine the effect of radial and circumferential flows on the power density improvements in a micro-tubular SOFC. The inserts were placed inside the fuel channel to generate flow in different directions. The effects of geometric parameters of these inserts on flow and mass transfer in the fuel channel and porous anode were analyzed. We demonstrate that the radial flow enables the fuel to penetrate directly into the porous anode, increasing the local fuel concentration and enhancing the fuel diffusion to the anode triple-phase boundaries. We found that the circumferential flow has a negligible effect on the diffusion process in the anode and on the increase in power density. The impact of local convective and diffusive mass transfer mechanisms on power density improvement is analyzed using the local Péclet number along the axial direction. Enlarging the radial velocity component perpendicular to the porous anode could effectively increase the power density of the micro-tubular SOFC by 37%. This study helps improve our understanding of mass transfer in fuel channels and helps build a foundation for SOFC channel designs and optimizations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:47:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1911761ab84d45ce87fefd957444ce50 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:47:38Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-1911761ab84d45ce87fefd957444ce502023-11-23T20:12:16ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732022-09-011519704810.3390/en15197048Effects of Radial and Circumferential Flows on Power Density Improvements of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel CellsAbdellah Essaghouri0Zezhi Zeng1Bingguo Zhao2Changkun Hao3Yuping Qian4Weilin Zhuge5Yangjun Zhang6State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaImproving the power density of SOFC stacks will accelerate their integration into mobile applications. We developed a 3D Multiphysics model validated by experimental results from early studies to examine the effect of radial and circumferential flows on the power density improvements in a micro-tubular SOFC. The inserts were placed inside the fuel channel to generate flow in different directions. The effects of geometric parameters of these inserts on flow and mass transfer in the fuel channel and porous anode were analyzed. We demonstrate that the radial flow enables the fuel to penetrate directly into the porous anode, increasing the local fuel concentration and enhancing the fuel diffusion to the anode triple-phase boundaries. We found that the circumferential flow has a negligible effect on the diffusion process in the anode and on the increase in power density. The impact of local convective and diffusive mass transfer mechanisms on power density improvement is analyzed using the local Péclet number along the axial direction. Enlarging the radial velocity component perpendicular to the porous anode could effectively increase the power density of the micro-tubular SOFC by 37%. This study helps improve our understanding of mass transfer in fuel channels and helps build a foundation for SOFC channel designs and optimizations.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7048solid oxide fuel cellmass transferradial and circumferential flowselectrochemical reactions |
| spellingShingle | Abdellah Essaghouri Zezhi Zeng Bingguo Zhao Changkun Hao Yuping Qian Weilin Zhuge Yangjun Zhang Effects of Radial and Circumferential Flows on Power Density Improvements of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Energies solid oxide fuel cell mass transfer radial and circumferential flows electrochemical reactions |
| title | Effects of Radial and Circumferential Flows on Power Density Improvements of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells |
| title_full | Effects of Radial and Circumferential Flows on Power Density Improvements of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells |
| title_fullStr | Effects of Radial and Circumferential Flows on Power Density Improvements of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of Radial and Circumferential Flows on Power Density Improvements of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells |
| title_short | Effects of Radial and Circumferential Flows on Power Density Improvements of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells |
| title_sort | effects of radial and circumferential flows on power density improvements of tubular solid oxide fuel cells |
| topic | solid oxide fuel cell mass transfer radial and circumferential flows electrochemical reactions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7048 |
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