Optimization of Distributed Cylindrical Interconnect Ribs for Anode- and Cathode-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

This paper presents a 3D multi-physics mathematic model to study the influence of distributed cylindrical interconnect ribs on solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) performance; and achieve the optimizing conclusions. The numerical simulation reveals that the interconnect structure, rib size, pitch width and contact resistance have significant effect on the the cell output; and there exists an optimum rib size to maximize the output current density. In addition, as there are significant differences working details between anode and cathode zone, as well as between anode-supported and cathode-supported, they should be optimized separately. Finally, the relationships between the optimized results and contact resistances for different SOFC types are concluded into simple expressions respectively to provide generality in practical application.