Three Dimensional Simulation of a Counter-flow Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

The following study investigates a 3-dimensional numerical model for the heat/mass and charge transfer simulation of a counter-flow planar solid oxide fuel cell to predict and evaluate its performance. The main emphasis in developing present model is to use for design and achieving optimized geometrical and effective parameters. This model can be used for calculation of thermal stresses and the structural design of the cell. Three dimensional transport equations are solved using computational fluid dynamics to simulate the flow field and to calculate species and temperature distribution in the computational domain. All ohmic, thermodynamic and electrochemical heat sources are taken in to account. Mass sources are calculated using the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen. Also the 3-D charge transfer equations are solved to predict the electrical potential distribution in the cell body and current collectors considering three kinds of polarization (ohmic, activation and concentration). To evaluate the model capabilities the results of the present study are compared with the experimental data and its accuracy is analyzed.