Computational fluid dynamics study of Y³⁺-doped Ba(Ce,Zr)O₃ based single channel proton ceramic fuel cell

Abstract

Theoretical studies using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling have been established in the field of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and oxygen ion solid oxide fuel cells (O2-SOFCs). However, its implementation in the proton ceramic fuel cell (PCFC) development is still in progress and very limited literature can be found. Thus, in this simulation study, ANSYS 2022 CFD software has been employed to predict hydrogen mass fraction distribution and power density of a single-channel PCFC operating in 100 % hydrogen fuel. This simulation utilized input data based on previously published experimental works. The mass fraction of H2 was 0.0 at the cathode area indicating that the electrolyte layer is fully dense and no leakage of H2 from the anode area into the cathode area. The maximum power density in 100 % H2 was 0.34 W/cm2 at 800° C. This is in agreement with the power density produced by the in-house fabricated button cell with the configuration of NiO-BCZY|BCZY|LSCF (BCZY=BaCe0.54Zr0.36Y0.1O2.95, LSCF=La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ.) that showed a maximum power density of 0.33W/cm2 in 100 % H2. This analysis will contribute to insight information on the relationship between fuel mass fraction distribution and fuel cell performance for future improvements in the field of PCFC.