A simple model for solid oxide fuel cells
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
A simple model for solid oxide fuel cells Ghzzai Almutairi1 Received: 11 October 2020 / Accepted: 21 October 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract It is widely accepted that solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) represent a promising energy conversion approach that deliver a myriad of benefits including low environment pollution, high efficiency, and system compactness. This paper describes the construction of a basic model based on ohmic considerations, mass transfer, and kinetics that can effectively evaluate the performance of small button SOFCs. The analysis of the data indicates that there is a close alignment between the cell potential calculated using the model and previous experimental data. As such, it can be concluded that the model can be employed to optimize, evaluate, or control the design parameters within a SOFC system. Keywords Solid oxide fuel cells · Mathematical models · Mass transfer · Kinetics · Ohmic resistance · Cell potential
Introduction In the contemporary era, fuel cell science and technology has evolved into a multidisciplinary discipline that consists of a range of fields including physics, mechanical engineering, molecular chemistry, computational science, electrochemistry and interfacial science, among others. The ultimate aim of many studies in this domain is to develop new and reliable systems of sustainable energy [1, 2]. Fuel cells electrochemically convert the chemical energy that is stored in a given fuel into electrical energy. The main difference between fuel cells and batteries are that fuel cells can provide an uninterrupted power supply, while batteries can only function for a limited period of time [3]. Unlike combustion engines, fuel cells are not limited by Carnot cycle, which offers a maximum efficiency of around 40%. In fact, fuel cells can achieve an efficiency level of around 65% [4–6]. At the start of the twentieth century, the temperature of the curvature globe had increased by around 0.6% and 2012 saw one of the highest temperatures on record. Phenomenon such as these have led to global warming concerns, and there is now a worldwide focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions. One prominent source of such emissions is * Ghzzai Almutairi [email protected] 1
Water and Energy Research Institute, KACST, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
the combustion engine, and efforts are increasingly being invested in studies that seek to find viable and cost-effective methods of replacing this source of energy. One area that has proven to be particularly promising is fuel cell technology [7, 8]. SOFCs are comparable to primary cells in that they are also formed of two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, with an electrolyte sandwiched between the two electrodes [9]. Fuel cells are typically classified according to the electrolyte material properties; however, they can also be categorized according to temperature: low-temperature fuel cells and high-temperature fuel cells. Low-temperature fuel cells operate at a temperature of between 30 °C and 250 °C, and there are five typ
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