Paulina Pianko-Oprych

Quantification of the Radiative and Convective Heat Transfer Processes and their Effect on mSOFC by CFD Modelling

Abstract The CFD modelling of heat transfer in a microtubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (mSOFC) stack has been presented. Stack performance predictions were based on a 16 anode-supported microtubular SOFCs sub-stack, which is a component of the overall stack containing 64 fuel cells. Both radiative and convective heat transfer were taken into account in the modelling. The heat flux value corresponded to the cell voltage of 0.7 [V]. Two different cases of the inlet air velocity of 2.0 and 8.5 [ms–1] were considered. It was found that radiation accounted for about 20–30 [%] of the total heat flux from the active tube surface, which means that the convective heat transfer predominated over the radiative one.

On thermodynamic equilibrium of carbon deposition from gaseous C-H-O mixtures: updating for nanotubes

Abstract Extensive literature information on experimental thermodynamic data and theoretical analysis for depositing carbon in various crystallographic forms is examined, and a new three-phase diagram for carbon is proposed. The published methods of quantitative description of gas-solid carbon equilibrium conditions are critically evaluated for filamentous carbon. The standard chemical potential values are accepted only for purified single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT). Series of C-H-O ternary diagrams are constructed with plots of boundary lines for carbon deposition either as graphite or nanotubes. The lines are computed for nine temperature levels from 200°C to 1000°C and for the total pressure of 1 bar and 10 bar. The diagram for graphite and 1 bar fully conforms to that in (Sasaki K, Teraoka Y. Equilibria in fuel cell gases II. The C-H-O ternary diagrams. J Electrochem Soc 2003b, 150: A885–A888). Allowing for CNTs in carbon deposition leads to significant lowering of the critical carbon content in the reformates in temperatures from 500°C upward with maximum shifting up the deposition boundary O/C values by about 17% and 28%, respectively, at 1 and 10 bar.

Simulation of the steady-state behaviour of a new design of a single planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

Abstract The aim of the work was to develop a mathematical model for computing the steady-state voltage – current characteristics of a planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell and to determine the performance of a new SOFC design. The design involves cross-flow bipolar plates. Each of the bipolar plates has an air channel system on one side and a fuel channel system on the other side. The proposed model was developed using the ANSYS-Fluent commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software supported by additional Fuel Cell module. The results confirm that the model can well simulate the diagonal current path. The effects of temperature and gas flow through the channels and a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) structure were taken into account. It was shown that a significant increase of the MEA temperature at high current density can lead to hot spots formation and hence electrode damage.

On the Deposition Equilibrium of Carbon Nanotubes or Graphite in the Reforming Processes of Lower Hydrocarbon Fuels

The modeling of carbon deposition from C-H-O reformates has usually employed thermodynamic data for graphite, but has rarely employed such data for impure filamentous carbon. Therefore, electrochemical data for the literature on the chemical potential of two types of purified carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are included in the study. Parameter values determining the thermodynamic equilibrium of the deposition of either graphite or CNTs are computed for dry and wet reformates from natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. The calculation results are presented as the atomic oxygen-to-carbon ratio (O/C) against temperature (200 to 100 °C) for various pressures (1 to 30 bar). Areas of O/C for either carbon deposition or deposition-free are computed, and indicate the critical O/C values below which the deposition can occur. Only three types of deposited carbon were found in the studied equilibrium conditions: Graphite, multi-walled CNTs, and single-walled CNTs in bundles. The temperature regions of the appearance of the thermodynamically stable forms of solid carbon are numerically determined as being independent of pressure and the analyzed reactants. The modeling indicates a significant increase in the critical O/C for the deposition of CNTs against that for graphite. The highest rise in the critical O/C, of up to 290% at 30 bar, was found for the wet reforming process.

A Numerical Investigation of the Thermal Stresses of a Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

A typical operating temperature of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is quite high above 750 °C and affects the thermomechanical behavior of the cell. Thermal stresses may cause microstructural instability and sub-critical cracking. Therefore, a joint analysis by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics based on the finite element method (FEM) was carried out to analyze thermal stresses in a planar SOFC and to predict potential failure locations in the cell. A full numerical model was based on the coupling of thermo-fluid model with the thermo-mechanical model. Based on a temperature distribution from the thermo-fluid model, stress distribution including the von Mises stress, shear stress as well as the operating principal stress were derived in the thermo-mechanical model. The FEM calculations were performed under different working conditions of the planar SOFC. The highest total stress was noticed at the lower operating voltage of 0.3 V, while the lowest total stress was determined at the voltage of 0.7 V. The obtained stress distributions allowed a better understanding of details of internal processes occurring within the SOFC and provided helpful guidance in the optimization of a new SOFC design.

Modelling of heat transfer in a packed bed column

Modelling of heat transfer in a packed bed column The CFD modelling of heat transfer in the packed bed column in the laminar and turbulent flow regimes has been presented. Three numerical grids with different densities were generated for the packed bed column. The modelling was performed with the use of the Porous Media Model for treating the flow inside a porous structure. The standard k-ε model along with the logarithmic wall functions for the turbulent flow range was used. The influence of the mesh size on the accuracy of the fluid flow was studied. Both radial and axial direction temperature distributions have been compared with the experimental data1 and the values calculated from a 2DADPF model. A good agreement between the experimental and the predicted values of the pressure drop, temperature distributions and heat transfer coefficient was obtained.

3D CFD fluid flow and thermal analyses of a new design of plate heat exchanger

Abstract The paper presents a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical study for a new design of a plate heat exchanger with two different flow patterns. The impact of geometric characteristics of the two studied geometries of exchanger plates on the intensification process of heat transfer was considered. The velocity, temperature and pressure distributions along the heat exchanger were examined. The CFD results were validated against experimental data and a good agreement was achieved. The results revealed that geometrical arrangement of the plates strongly influence the fluid flow. An increase in the Reynolds number led to lowering the friction factor value and increasing the pressure drop. The configuration II of the plate heat exchanger resulted in lower outlet hot fluid temperature in comparison with the configuration I, which means improvement of heat transfer.

Model development of integrated CPOx reformer and SOFC stack system

Abstract The main purpose of this study was to develop a mathematical model, in a steady state and dynamic mode, of a Catalytic Partial Oxidation (CPOx) reformer – Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) stack integrated system in order to assess the system performance. Mass balance equations were written for each component in the system together with energy equation and implemented into the MATLAB Simulink simulation tool. Temperature, gas concentrations, pressure and current density were computed in the steady-state mode and validated against experimental data. The calculated I–V curve matched well the experimental one. In the dynamic modelling, several different conditions including step changes in fuel flow rates, stack voltage as well as temperature values were applied to estimate the system response against the load variations. Results provide valuable insight into the operating conditions that have to be achieved to ensure efficient CPOx performance for fuel processing for the SOFC stack applications.

Numerical analysis of thermal stresses in a new design of microtubular stack

Abstract Microtubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (mSOFCs) are one of the most promising and efficient devices that convert chemical energy of fuels into electrical energy. However, mSOFC stacks work at high operating temperature over 650°C, which leads to thermally induced mechanical stresses and in consequence may cause failure of stack components. In order to reduce the local thermal gradients and prevent high stresses in the stack components, it is desirable to study the effect of stack design on its performance. For this purpose a 3D numerical approach was developed to estimate thermal expansion of fuel cell inside an mSOFC stack and to reduce the associated experimental efforts and costs. Initially, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was used to calculate the temperature and species concentration profiles. During the second modeling step temperature profiles were used in the thermo-mechanical model to calculate the thermal stress distribution in the mSOFC stack. The results maximum thermal axial elongation that equals 1.4 mm for the mSOFC stack. The modelled maximum radial elongation was equal to 0.5 mm in the contact areas of the cylindrical housing and manifolds on the fuel inlet side. Graphical Abstract

Prediction of liquid-liquid flow in an SMX static mixer using large eddy simulations

The main purpose of the paper is to apply the large eddy simulations (LES) technique and to verify its use as a predicting tool for turbulent liquid-liquid flow in an SMX static mixer. LES modeling was carried out using the Smagorinsky-Lilly model of the turbulent subgrid viscosity for the Reynolds number of 5000 and 10000. The continuous phase was water and the dispersed phase was silicon oil. The investigation covers the effects of the density ratio between the phases. Three different cases of liquid densities were considered. The dispersed phase concentration distribution in the mixer cross-sections was compared with the corresponding time averaged results obtained formerly for the same configuration in a steady-state simulation using the standard RANS approach with the k-ɛ model. The dependency of the standard deviation of the dispersed phase concentration on the distance from the mixer inlet and the impact of the centrifugal force on the phase concentration distribution were investigated. The presented results for the SMX static mixer confirm conclusions of previous studies by Jaworski et al. (2006) obtained for a Kenics static mixer and show less a pronounced influence of the centrifugal force on the phase concentration distribution of the LES results in comparison to the RANS case.