Author(s)

O. O. Ighodaro^1,2*, K. Scott², L. Xing³

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
²School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
³School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.

A two-dimensional along the channel micro-scale isothermal model of a SOFC is developed and validated against experimental data and other simulated results from literature. The steady state behaviour of the cell was determined by numerical solution of the combined transport, continuity and kinetic equations. An important characteristic of the model is the consideration of the triple phase boundary as a distinct layer. The model is capable of predicting the cell performance including polarisation behaviour and power output. The model is used to study the effect of the support structure, geometric parameters and the effect of operating conditions on cell performance. Several parametric studies include the effect of operating conditions and geometric parameters on cell performance with a view to optimising the cell. The simulation results showed that the anode supported SOFC displayed the best performance with the activation and ohmic overpotentials being responsible for most of the voltage losses in the cell.

Isothermal, Overpotential, Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, Anode Support

Ighodaro, O. , Scott, K. and Xing, L. (2017) An Isothermal Study of the Electrochemical Performance of Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 5, 97-122. doi: 10.4236/jpee.2017.52006.