Effect of inlet flow maldistribution on the thermal and electrical performance of a molten carbonate fuel cell unit

Effect of inlet flow maldistribution in the stacking direction on the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell stack

“…(14) and the Newton-Raphson iteration is used to solve the current density in the same stack through Eqs. (16)- (19) by setting a constant cell voltage. (4) The current density is updated and the loop from Step 1 to Step 3 is repeated until all relative errors of the molar flow rates, temperature and current density satisfy the convergence criteria.…”

“…The solving method then calculates the current density from Eqs. (16) to (19), based on the assumption that the cell voltage is uniform over the cell reaction area.…”

“…Hirata and Hori [18] used a numerical method to examine the relationships between planar and stacking direction gas flow uniformities, and cell performance in a co-flow type fuel cell. Liu et al [19] as well as Yuan and Liu [20] developed a reliable numerical method to examine the effect of inlet flow maldistribution in the transverse direction on the thermal and electrical performance of a MCFC and SOFC unit with cross-flow configuration. Their results showed that the nonuniform inlet flow affects only slightly the average temperature and average current density, but induces greater non-uniformities of temperature and current density for most maldistribution patterns.…”

Gas distribution inside an MCFC

“…MCFC simulation models usually consider the FCCC as composed of many flow-streets that are parallel to each other [8,9]. Fig.…”

Gas-Phase Mass-Transfer Resistances at Polymeric Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells Electrodes: Theoretical Analysis on the Effectiveness of Interdigitated and Serpentine Flow Arrangements

“…In order to reach uniform and high Sherwood numbers and low head losses, some technological problems could be still solved and even interdigitated cells do not seem to be a completely suitable solution. The proposed partially interdigitated configuration [24], the use of special distribution grids [29] or feeding solutions [16,30] could be considered as promising steps in the right direction.…”