Effect of water vapor generation on cell polarization in active area of anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells

In this paper, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model based on the finite volume method is developed for an anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell with an active area of 1.54 cm(2). The numerical model including electrochemical reaction has been compared with experimental data obtained under the same conditions to verify the reliability of the code, air and fuel concentrations at the anode and cathode of the cell were shown and analyzed according to the three fuel utilization rates. The calculated current density of the SOFC has been affected by the flow velocity and gas concentration due to water vapor generation. The electrochemical reaction generates water vapors at the reaction sides which impedes gas diffusion. We have shown the streamlines of gas flow distracted by increased water vapor concentration. Consequently, the operating conditions of SOFC should be determined by considering the effects of water vapor generation for the practical applications. We have verified the water vapor generation in SOFC which significantly affects the performance.