Engineered Electrode Microstructure for Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

This paper presents a mathematical model for the description of transport and reaction phenomena in porous composite electrodes for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications. The model is based on charge and mass balances, describing transport of charged and gas species along with the electrochemica...

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Main Authors: A. Bertei, B. Nucci, C. Nicolella
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIDIC Servizi S.r.l. 2013-06-01
Series:Chemical Engineering Transactions
Online Access:https://www.cetjournal.it/index.php/cet/article/view/6777
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author A. Bertei
B. Nucci
C. Nicolella
author_facet A. Bertei
B. Nucci
C. Nicolella
author_sort A. Bertei
collection DOAJ
description This paper presents a mathematical model for the description of transport and reaction phenomena in porous composite electrodes for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications. The model is based on charge and mass balances, describing transport of charged and gas species along with the electrochemical reaction occurring at the solid/gas phase interface. Effective properties of the porous media are evaluated on numerically reconstructed microstructures. The correlation between electrode microstructure and electrochemical performance is investigated. In particular, the study focuses on how a distribution of particle size within the thickness may improve the air-electrode efficiency. The results show that distributing smaller particles at the electrolyte interface reduces the sensitivity of the cathode efficiency to the electrode thickness, with clear advantages from the manufactory point of view. However, the conditions for which this advantage is relevant, that is, particle size smaller than 0.10 µm and porosity in the order of 15 %, are not technically achievable at the present.
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spelling doaj.art-7f132c65588249c68eec0f376fbbf3ff2022-12-21T23:03:03ZengAIDIC Servizi S.r.l.Chemical Engineering Transactions2283-92162013-06-013210.3303/CET1332383Engineered Electrode Microstructure for Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel CellsA. BerteiB. NucciC. NicolellaThis paper presents a mathematical model for the description of transport and reaction phenomena in porous composite electrodes for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications. The model is based on charge and mass balances, describing transport of charged and gas species along with the electrochemical reaction occurring at the solid/gas phase interface. Effective properties of the porous media are evaluated on numerically reconstructed microstructures. The correlation between electrode microstructure and electrochemical performance is investigated. In particular, the study focuses on how a distribution of particle size within the thickness may improve the air-electrode efficiency. The results show that distributing smaller particles at the electrolyte interface reduces the sensitivity of the cathode efficiency to the electrode thickness, with clear advantages from the manufactory point of view. However, the conditions for which this advantage is relevant, that is, particle size smaller than 0.10 µm and porosity in the order of 15 %, are not technically achievable at the present.https://www.cetjournal.it/index.php/cet/article/view/6777
spellingShingle A. Bertei
B. Nucci
C. Nicolella
Engineered Electrode Microstructure for Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
Chemical Engineering Transactions
title Engineered Electrode Microstructure for Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
title_full Engineered Electrode Microstructure for Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
title_fullStr Engineered Electrode Microstructure for Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
title_full_unstemmed Engineered Electrode Microstructure for Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
title_short Engineered Electrode Microstructure for Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
title_sort engineered electrode microstructure for optimization of solid oxide fuel cells
url https://www.cetjournal.it/index.php/cet/article/view/6777
work_keys_str_mv AT abertei engineeredelectrodemicrostructureforoptimizationofsolidoxidefuelcells
AT bnucci engineeredelectrodemicrostructureforoptimizationofsolidoxidefuelcells
AT cnicolella engineeredelectrodemicrostructureforoptimizationofsolidoxidefuelcells