Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack modeling
Modeling thermal cycling behavior in high-power density SOFC stacks (DETCHEMSOC + DETCHEMMONOLITH)
Simulating the start-up behavior of a 10 kWe-class high-power density metal-supported Ni-CGO/CGO/YSZ/CGO/LSCF-CGO 120-cell stack for stationary and mobile power generation. Shown is the temperature profile of the stack solid phase including a microporous silica-based insulation layer at the stack’s periphery. The model includes convective and radiative heat loss to the ambient surroundings. While the transient calculation starts at 0 minutes by initializing the solid phase temperature field at 373.15 K (cold stand-by mode), air is used as a heating medium for heating up the stack to its operating temperature at ~973.15 K with constant mass flow rate and linear temperature ramp as depicted in Fig. 1. Hydrogen fuel is fed to the fuel channels when the stack temperature reaches 873.15 K after ~67 minutes, where current starts to get drawn from the stack (Fig. 1).