Computational Fluid Dynamics for Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cell Stack Modeling: A Brief Review

Abstract

Protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are one of the promising and emerging technologies for future energy generation. PCFCs are operated at intermediate temperatures (450–750 °C) and exhibit many advantages over traditional high-temperature oxygen-ion conducting solid oxide fuel cells (O-SOFCs) because they are simplified, have a longer life, and have faster startup times. A clear understanding/analysis of their specific working parameters/processes is required to enhance the performance of PCFCs further. Many physical processes, such as heat transfer, species transport, fluid flow, and electrochemical reactions, are involved in the operation of the PCFCs. These parameters are linked with each other along with internal velocity, temperature, and electric field. In real life, a complex non-linear relationship between these process parameters and their respective output cannot be validated only using an experimental setup. Hence, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is an easier and more effective mathematical-based approach, which can easily change various geometric/process parameters of PCFCs and analyze their influence on its efficiency. This short review details the recent studies related to the application of CFD modeling in the PCFC system done by researchers to improve the electrochemical characteristics of the PCFC system. One of the crucial observations from this review is that the application of CFD modeling in PCFC design optimization is still much less than the traditional O-SOFC.

Numerical Modeling of Ammonia-Fueled Protonic-Ion Conducting Electrolyte-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (H-SOFC): A Brief Review

“…Table 1. List of different fuel cell types, along with their corresponding operating temperature, charge carrier, electrical efficiency, power output, potential applications, as well as their respective advantages and disadvantages [1,16].…”

“…Analysis of the integration of NH 3 -fueled SOFC with gas turbine [73] Plant-based thermodynamic SOFC modeling analysis [74] Waste heat and residual fuel composition analysis [75] ANSYS Torsion test, crack installation test, and creep behavior analysis [16] ANSYS provides a wide range of simulation capabilities, accuracy, physics integration, customization options, and community support. However, it comes with limitations such as cost, learning curve, resource-intensive computations, model complexity, and potential deployment challenges.…”

“…Figure 2. Schematic representation of ammonia-fueled H-SOFC[16]. NH 3 and air need to be supplied to the anode side and cathode side, respectively.…”

Optimization analysis of solid oxide fuel cells with ceria-based single cells using computational fluid dynamics

“…Consequently, CFD has become a highly valuable and widely used tool for researchers * Corresponding author: tankanghuai@tarc.edu.my /tankanghuai@gmail.com studying transport and electrochemical phenomena within fuel cells. In contrast to experimental approaches, which often involve complex and expensive setups for analyzing SOFC performance, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) plays a central role in this project [3]. It allows for the examination of how fuel cell behavior, design performance, and various parameters are affected under diverse operating conditions.…”

Modeling of a Single Repeating Unit for Protonic Ceramic Cell Applications

“…In order to optimize the design of the geometry, a common approach is to develop numerical computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to simulate the fluidic distribution in the SRU and the thermal-electrical response of the integrated interconnect-cell assembly. CFD modeling has been largely used for SOFCs to analyze and optimize their performance, but its usage in PCFCs is still limited (10) In this work, a numerical model for three-dimensional, steady-state simulations of a SRU geometry designed for a circular, anode-supported 28 cm 2 PCC has been developed. The model has been applied to simulate the operation in fuel cell mode and it has been calibrated using experimental data from the literature.…”