Theoretical Investigation of the Relation between the Output of a Methane Internal Reforming SOFC and the Composition of the Feedstream

Abstract

It is a common point for the current fuel cell research to correlate the composition of the feedstream to the output of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). In this direction, the detailed steady-state transport processes (i.e. the flow regime, the heat transfer, the mass and the charge transport) are mathematically described here. A new mesoscopic mathematical model has been developed through the relative differential equations along with the appropriate boundary conditions, which have been numerically integrated by using the commercially available software CFD-ACE+, in order to calculate the electricity produced by the fuel cell. It is found that the produced current density increases with CH4 percentage in the feeding mixture.