LYU Yulong, ZHAO Shuang, LIU Ziyu, et al. Numerical Simulation of Multi-physics and Electrochemical Local Characteristics of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells[J]. 2026, 46(5): 1954-1965.
DOI:
LYU Yulong, ZHAO Shuang, LIU Ziyu, et al. Numerical Simulation of Multi-physics and Electrochemical Local Characteristics of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells[J]. 2026, 46(5): 1954-1965.DOI: 10.13334/j.0258-8013.pcsee.242599.
Numerical Simulation of Multi-physics and Electrochemical Local Characteristics of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
Spatially inhomogeneous distributions of current and temperature in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) can accelerate electrode degradation and thermal mechanical failure. Analyzing the distribution characteristic and interaction mechanism of multi-physical fields is of great significance for improving the performance and extending the operational life of SOFCs. This paper uses a cathode-segmented SOFC for numerical simulation under isothermal boundary and heat transfer conditions to analyze the local distribution of the SOFC electrochemical characteristics. The uniformity index is used to evaluate the distribution characteristics of multi- physical fields under different working conditions. The results show that under isothermal boundary conditions
as the fuel utilization increases
the current density difference between SOFC segments reaches ~1 A/cm2@0.6 V
and the current uniformity index Fu drops from 0.888@0.8 V to 0.782@0.6 V
indicating an uneven current distribution. At the same time
after adopting the heat exchange boundary condition
the temperature distribution in the SOFC is significantly uneven
worsening the current distribution non-uniformity
and the Fu index drops sharply from 0.861@0.8 V to 0.498@0.6 V. When the fuel utilization reaches 90%
the Fu index drops below 0.80
indicating adverse working conditions. Therefore
the identification of local electrochemical characteristics and the quantitative analysis of multi-physical fields uniformity can effectively support the identification of adverse working conditions and the evaluation of the design optimizationand operation strategy of SOFC.