Abstract
Efficient operation of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)
stacks requires uniform temperature and fuel utilization
distributions in the stack. Especially high fuel
utilizations necessitate uniform fuel flow dis-tributions
to avoid performance decrease or anode reoxidation. A
uniform temperature distribution helps to prolong the
life-time of the stack. This work presents a method to
determine the fuel utili-zation and temperature
distribution in SOFC stacks with electro-chemical
impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The equations for relat-ing
the measured impedance and fuel utilization and
temperature are derived from physical equations
describing the SOFC stack. The method is demonstrated
with an ElringKlinger AG 10-cell stack fuelled with
50%/50% H2/N2 at nominal operation condi-tions. The
difference in temperature and fuel utilization between
cells was determined. The calculated distributions are in
line with cell voltage measurements. The method can be
used to improve SOFC stack design and performance.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2141-2150 |
| Journal | ECS Transactions |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 May 2017 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
| Event | 15th International Symposium on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, SOFC XV - Hollywood, United States Duration: 23 Jul 2017 → 28 Jul 2017 |
Funding
The NELLHI (grant agreement no. 621227) and INNO-SOFC (grant agreement no. 671403) projects, which have received funding from the European Union’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative, are acknowledged. Additionally, the STEP project, funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation TEKES and Projektträger Jülich (Germany), is acknowledged.
