Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is expected to be a promising candidate for the power source in the next generation due to its high efficiency, utilization of high-temperature waste heat and low emission of pollutant to the environment. SOFC is, however,...
Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is expected to be a promising candidate for the power source in the next generation due to its high efficiency, utilization of high-temperature waste heat and low emission of pollutant to the environment. SOFC is, however, very sensitive to thermal stress because of its high operating temperature. In this study, three-dimensional CFD analyses are conducted to investigate the influence of flow pattern in the performance of a planar SOFC. Numerical results show that the temperature increases along the flow direction in the co-flow case and the temperature profile has a peak near the fuel inlet in the counter-flow case. Simulations of staggered flow channel model prove that overall performance is almost the same as that of unstaggered one although local distribution of current density is different.