The Effects of Cell Parameters on SOFC Cell Unit Performance

The effects of cell parameters on SOFC cell unit performance have been investigated experimentally and numerically. The experiment was conducted using the anode-supported SOFC cell unit (100cm²) and the CFD simulation model was also performed adapting same geometry, material properties, and cell parameters of SOFC cell unit. 3D SOFC cell unit simulation model including electrochemistry, heat and mass transfer, and fluid dynamics are solved by COMSOL Multiphysics. In the experiment, the voltage was measured under fixed current density condition, so current fixed method was used in numerical simulation. Because the simulation results show good agreement with experimental data, the effects of cell parameters on SOFC cell unit performance could be investigated by changing porosity, thickness of electrode and electrolytes using our simulation model. The cell performance was also analyzed by calculating each overpotentials (activation loss, concentration loss, and ohmic loss). With this model, we could find the optimal cell design parameters and we expect that the current findings can provide a guideline for the design of SOFC cell unit.