3-DIMENSIONAL NUMERICAL-SIMULATION FOR VARIOUS GEOMETRIES OF SOLID OXIDE FUEL-CELLS

A three-dimensional mathematical model of a solid oxide fuel cell is p resented, which allows the computation of the local distributions of t he electrical potential, temperature and concentration of the chemical species. The physics of the cell and the simplifying assumptions are presented; a sketch of the numerical procedure is also given. The nume rical results obtained with hydrogen as the fuel are compared with res ults from other simulation codes which were developed for a planar geo metry. The numerical results show the behaviour of the potential, temp erature and current distributions when certain parameters (geometry of the cell, electrolyte materials, temperature in the channels) are var ied. Numerical simulation is also used to obtain an optimum for some g eometry parameters such as cathode thickness or rib width.