CFD Analysis of Heat Transfer in a Microtubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack

The aim of this work was to achieve a deeper understanding of the heat transfer in a microtubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (mSOFC) stack based on the results obtained by means of a Computational Fluid Dynamics tool. Stack performance predictions were based on simulations for a 16 anodesupported mSOFCs sub-stack, which was a component of the overall stack containing 64 fuel cells. The emphasis of the paper was put on steadystate modelling, which enabled identification of heat transfer between the fuel cells and air flow cooling the stack and estimation of the influence of stack heat losses. Analysis of processes for different heat losses and the impact of the mSOFC reaction heat flux profile on the temperature distribution in the mSOFC stack were carried out. Both radiative and convective heat transfer were taken into account in the analysis. Two different levels of the inlet air velocity and three different values of the heat losses were considered. Good agreement of the CFD model results with experimental data allowed to predict the operation trends, which will be a reliable tool for optimisation of the working setup and ensure sufficient cooling of the mSOFC stack.