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Mathematical analysis of SOFC based on co-ionic conducting electrolyte

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Abstract

In co-ionic conducting solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), both oxygen ion (O2-) and proton (H+) can transport through the electrolyte, generating steam in both the anode and cathode. Thus the mass transport phenomenon in the electrodes is quite different from that in conventional SOFC with oxygen ion conducting electrolyte (O-SOFC) or with proton conducting electrolyte (H-SOFC). The generation of steam in both electrodes also affects the concentration overpotential loss and further the SOFC performance. However, no detailed modeling study on SOFCs with co-ionic electrolyte has been reported yet. In this paper, a new mathematical model for SOFC based on co-ionic electrolyte was developed to predict its actual performance considering three major kinds of overpotentials. Ohm’s law and the Butler-Volmer formula were used to model the ion conduction and electrochemical reactions, respectively. The dusty gas model (DGM) was employed to simulate the mass transport processes in the porous electrodes. Parametric simulations were performed to investigate the effects of proton transfer number (t H) and current density (j total) on the cell performance. It is interesting to find that the co-ionic conducting SOFC could perform better than O-SOFC and H-SOFC by choosing an appropriate proton transfer number. In addition, the co-ionic SOFC shows smaller difference between the anode and cathode concentration overpotentials than O-SOFC and H-SOFC at certain t H values. The results could help material selection for enhancing SOFC performance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Building Energy Research Group, Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

    Ke-Qing Zheng, Meng Ni, Qiong Sun & Li-Yin Shen

Authors
  1. Ke-Qing Zheng
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  2. Meng Ni
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  3. Qiong Sun
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  4. Li-Yin Shen
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Correspondence to Meng Ni.

Additional information

The project was supported by Research Grant Council (RGC) of Hong Kong (PolyU 5238/11E).

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Zheng, KQ., Ni, M., Sun, Q. et al. Mathematical analysis of SOFC based on co-ionic conducting electrolyte. Acta Mech Sin 29, 388–394 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-013-0040-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-013-0040-3

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