Numerical Modeling and Simulation of the Solid Oxide Cell Stacks and Metal Interconnect Oxidation with OpenFOAM

Energies, vol. 16, pp. 3827

Abstract

Solid oxide cells are capable of efficiently converting various chemical energy carriers to electricity and vice versa. The urgent challenge nowadays is the faster degradation rate compared with other fuel cell/electrolyzer technologies. To understand the degradation mechanisms, simulation of a solid oxide cell is helpful. Since most previous research developed models using commercial software, such as COMSOL and ANSYS Fluent, a gap for knowledge transfer is being gradually formed between academia and industry due to licensing issues. This paper introduces a multiphysics model, developed by a computational code, openFuelCell2. The code is implemented with an open-source library, OpenFOAM. It accounts for momentum transfer, mass transfer, electrochemical reactions and metal interconnect oxidation. The model can precisely predict I–V curves under different temperatures, fuel humidity and operation modes. Comparison between OpenFOAM and COMSOL simulations shows good agreement. The metal interconnect oxidation is modeled, which can predict the thickness of the oxide scale under different protective coatings. Simulations are conducted by assuming an ultra-thin film resistance on the rib surface. It is revealed that coatings fabricated by atmospheric plasma spraying can efficiently prevent metal interconnect oxidation, with a contribution of only 0.53 % to the total degradation rate.

Authors 6

1. Shangzhe Yu Aachen Institute of Physical Chemistry

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Fundamental Electrochemistry (IEK-9), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, D-52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Shidong Zhang corresponding

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Fundamental Electrochemistry (IEK-9), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany

3. Dominik Schäfer

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Fundamental Electrochemistry (IEK-9), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany

4. Roland Peters

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Fundamental Electrochemistry (IEK-9), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany

5. Felix Kunz

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Fundamental Electrochemistry (IEK-9), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany

6. Rüdiger‐A. Eichel Aachen Institute of Physical Chemistry

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Fundamental Electrochemistry (IEK-9), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, D-52074 Aachen, Germany