The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Ternary Particle Electrode Simulation And Optimization

Solid Oxide Fuel cells(SOFC) have been recognized for their unsurpassed efficiency and essentially pollution-free operation. However, in order to enter the mainstream power markets, high reliability and economic feasibility are crucial.Nano-composite electrodes have a considerable amount of Ni–YSZ-pore(or LSM-YSZ-pore at cathode) three phase boundaries (TPBs) at the contiguous region between the YSZ electrolyte and the electrodes because of the very small grain size of the dual composite powder, and show excellent durability (nearly zero degradation) which attribute to the homogeneous, durable, and highly efficient electrodes made from the dual composite powder .This thesis analyses the Compositional influence of nano-composite electrodes on improved performance of solid oxide fuel cells; And developed a 2D Model for modelling the ratio of the different dual composite components electrodes of SOFC by using finite element methodThe thesis is divided into four chapters, in the first chapter, we give an overview of the research background of fuel cell followed with a brief discussion of the material and design of solid oxide fuel cell.Chapter II consists of solid oxide fuel cell principle of thermodynamics and electrochemistry, mass transport type in porous electrode and a briefly discussion of numerical simulation and finite element analysis works.In chapter 3, a 2D model for the solid oxide fuel cell made from the dual composite powder is described. The model considered the particle percolation influence on the SOFC electrodes, mass transport in the electrodes, electronic and ionic conductions in the membrane-electrode assembly and the electrochemical reactions at the three phase boundaries. And calculated the cell performance with different volume fraction of LSM nano particles and YSZ nano particles respectively .Based on the model in Chapter III, in Chapter IV, we simulate and optimize the nano-composite electrodes Button solid oxide fuel cell cathode thickness, the cathode area and the anode thickness.