Solid oxide fuel cell numerical study: modified MOLB-type and simple planar geometries with internal reforming

In this paper two different types of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) geometries are studied via CFD numerical simulations: a) a mono-block-layer build type (MOLB-type) with a porous embedding pipe in the air side of the geometry and a simple planar geometry were modeled feeding biogas obtained from local sludge. The numerical simulations integrated the internal reforming of methane in the anode side and different several phenomena that occur inside of the SOFC such as: mass transfer, heat transfer, species transport, chemical and electrochemical reactions. A detailed comparison of the results such as: current density, species concentration and temperature distributions along the fuel cells is reported. The results showed that the CH4, H2O, CO, CO2 concentration and current density distributions had similar trends for both MOLB-type with embedding porous pipe geometry and simple planar geometry. However, higher H2 concentration and lower average temperature value are obtained from the MOLB-type with embedding porous pipe geometry, which help to handle higher current densities and reduces thermal stress, increasing the performance of the fuel cell.