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Virginia Tech

Model of chromium poisoning in the cathode of a solid oxide fuel cell using the lattice Boltzmann method

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The metallic interconnect of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) contains chromium in order to protect the metal from the corrosive environment in the fuel cell. Unfortunately, the chromium introduces chemical instability in the cathode as it migrates from the interconnect to the pores in the cathode. A model was developed previously in Asinari et al. [1] and Kasula et al [2] to model the flow of particles in a fuel cell electrode. To learn more about the migration of the chromium, the previous code is modified in this thesis work to include the effects of the chromium. The model uses Kinetic Theory to simulate the fuel cell at a mesoscopic scale. The discretized form of the Lattice Boltzmann equation is modified for enhanced performance and for use on a parallel processing system. With the new model, the migration of the chromium in the cathode and the performance degradation of the fuel cell are predicted.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Mechanical Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Mechanical Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2010

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Kestell, Gayle M.
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • von Spakovsky, Michael R.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Reynolds, William T. Jr.
  • Lu, P. Kathy
  • Ellis, Michael W.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-02242010-171153
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/41286

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Kestell, Gayle M.. Model of chromium poisoning in the cathode of a solid oxide fuel cell using the lattice Boltzmann method. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/41286