Modeling of solid oxide fuel cells

A comprehensive membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) model of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)s is developed to investigate the effect of various design and operating conditions on the cell performance and to examine the underlying mechanisms that govern their performance. We review and compare the current modeling methodologies, and develop an one-dimensional MEA model based on a comprehensive approach that include the dusty-gas model (DGM) for gas transport in the porous electrodes, the detailed heterogeneous elementary reaction kinetics for the thermo-chemistry in the anode, and the detailed electrode kinetics for the electrochemistry at the triple-phase boundary. With regard to the DGM, we corrected the Knudsen diffusion coefficient in the previous model developed by Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative. Further, we formulate the conservation equations in the unsteady form, allowing for analyzing the response of the MEA to imposed dynamics. As for the electrochemistry model, we additionally analyzed all the possibilities of the rate-limiting reaction and proposed rate-limiting switched mechanism. Our model prediction agrees with experimental results significantly better than previous models, especially at high current density.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Won Yong, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ahmed F. Ghoniem.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38564

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/38564