Investigation of cell performance in pin geometry of solid oxide fuel cell considering blower power input

Enhancing fuel cell efficiency is crucial for promoting hydrogen adoption and reducing carbon emissions. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) design affects power output and blower input, influencing current density and pressure drop. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were used to investigate these factors across various designs. A comparison of pin configurations, the co-flow arrangement (fuel and oxygen in the same direction) had the highest hydrogen consumption (68.98 %), surpassing cross-flow and counter-flow cases (62.86 % and 68.22 %), leading to superior cell performance. Adjusting square pin width enhanced under-rib convection, improving cell performance but increasing blower input. S3 model (0.5 mm width) showed the highest performance improvement ratio (eta = 1.1 %) from 0.25 mm width model (S1). Pin shape changes (square, diamond, triangle, circle) minimally affected performance, while staggered array design improved uniform flow and performance (eta = 1.2 %). Findings of this study can be helpful to optimize SOFC performance by considering cell density, blower consumption, and flow distribution.