Table Of ContentFundamentals of Heat
and Fluid Flow in
High Temperature
Fuel Cells
Fundamentals of Heat
and Fluid Flow in
High Temperature
Fuel Cells
MAJID GHASSEMI
Mechanical Engineering Faculty
K.N. Toosi Universityof Technology, Tehran Iran
MAJID KAMVAR
Department of Mechanical Engineering,Parand Branch,
IslamicAzad University, Parand,Iran
ROBERT STEINBERGER-WILCKENS
School of Chemical Engineering,University of
Birmingham, Edgbaston, United Kingdom
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Dedication
To my daughter, Fatimah, son, Alireza, and my wife, Monir
Majid
To my mother, Zahra, and father Hassan
Majid
Contents
Abouttheauthors xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xv
1. Introduction to fuel cells 1
1.1 Whatisafuelcell? 1
1.2 Howdoesafuelcellwork? 2
1.3 Typesoffuelcells 3
1.3.1 Hydroxideionexchangefuelcell 3
1.3.2 Oxideionexchangefuelcell 4
1.3.3 Protonexchangefuelcell 6
1.3.4 Carbonateionexchangefuelcell 7
1.4 Thermodynamicsoffuelcells 8
References 15
2. Classificationofsolidoxide fuel cells 17
2.1 Historicalsummary 18
2.2 Geometricaltypes 21
2.2.1 Planardesign 21
2.2.2 Tubulardesign 22
2.2.3 High-powerdensitydesign 23
2.2.4 Deltadesign 24
2.2.5 Buttondesign 25
2.3 Celltypesintermsofitssupport 27
2.3.1 Electrolyte-supportedsolidoxidefuelcell 28
2.3.2 Cathode-supportedsolidoxidefuelcell 28
2.3.3 Anode-supportedsolidoxidefuelcell 30
2.4 Solidoxidefuelcellclassificationbasedonflowpatterns 32
2.5 Celltypesintermsofitschambernumber 36
2.5.1 Dual-chambersolidoxidefuelcell 36
2.5.2 Single-chambersolidoxidefuelcell 37
2.5.3 No-chambersolidoxidefuelcell 41
2.6 Singleandstackcelldesigns 42
References 45
vii
viii Contents
3. Solid oxide fuel cells inhybridsystems 47
3.1 Strategiesforimprovingtheefficiencyofsolidoxidefuelcellpower
generationsystems 48
3.2 Thermodynamiccycleoptionsinhybridsolidoxidefuelcellsystems 49
3.3 Balanceofplantequipment 51
3.3.1 Fueldesulfurization 51
3.3.2 Heatexchangers 52
3.3.3 Ejectors 53
3.3.4 Reformer 54
3.3.5 Afterburners 55
3.3.6 Powerelectronics 55
3.3.7 Othercomponents 56
3.4 Basicsolidoxidefuelcell/gasturbinehybridcycle 56
3.5 Differentconfigurationsofsolidoxidefuelcellhybridsystems 56
3.5.1 Directthermalcouplingscheme 58
3.5.2 Indirectthermalcouplingscheme 61
3.5.3 Othertypesofcoupling 63
3.6 Mathematicalmodelingofansolidoxidefuelcell/gasturbinehybrid
system 65
References 73
4. Fundamentals of electrochemistry 75
4.1 Thebasicconceptsofgasmixturecategory 76
4.1.1 Massfractionsandmolefractions 76
4.1.2 Idealgasmixtures 77
4.1.3 Propertiesofgasmixtures 79
4.2 Conservationofspecies 80
4.3 Speciessourcetermsinsolidoxidefuelcells 87
4.3.1 Chemicalreactions 88
4.3.2 Electrochemicalreactions 91
4.3.3 Someapplicableboundaryconditionsforsolidoxidefuelcells 96
References 98
Furtherreading 99
5. Fundamental ofheat transfer 101
5.1 Differentmodesofheattransfer 103
5.1.1 Conductionheattransfer 103
5.1.2 Convectionheattransfer 107
5.1.3 Radiationheattransfer 109
5.2 Energyconservation 113
5.2.1 Heatequationinelectrolytes 115
Contents ix
5.2.2 Heatequationinporouselectrodes 116
5.2.3 Heatequationinchannels 117
5.3 Solidoxidefuelcell’ssourceterms 118
5.3.1 JouleorOhmicheatsource 118
5.3.2 Irreversibleheatsource 118
5.3.3 Reversibleheatsources 118
5.3.4 Heatsourcegeneratedbychemicalreactions 119
5.4 Someapplicableboundaryconditionsforsolidoxidefuelcells 120
5.4.1 Specifiedtemperature 120
5.4.2 Thermalinsulatedboundary 120
5.4.3 Specifiedheatflux 121
5.4.4 Continuity 121
5.4.5 Outflow 121
5.4.6 Symmetry 122
5.4.7 Surface-to-ambientradiation 123
References 124
6. Fundamentals of fluid flow 125
6.1 Conservationofmass 126
6.1.1 Masssources 127
6.2 Conservationoflinearmomentum 132
6.2.1 TheBrinkmanequation 132
6.2.2 TheNavier(cid:1)Stokesequations 133
6.2.3 Body(volume)force 134
6.3 Boundaryconditions 134
6.3.1 Inletboundarycondition 134
6.3.2 Outletboundarycondition 136
6.3.3 Wallboundarycondition 137
6.3.4 Axialsymmetry 138
6.3.5 Continuity 139
References 139
7. Case studies 141
7.1 Casestudy1:Stationaryperformanceanalysisofadualchamber
solidoxidefuelcellwithhydrogenfuel 142
7.2 Case2:Transientperformanceanalysisofadualchambersolidoxide
fuelcellwithhydrogenfuel 153
7.3 Casestudy3:Theeffectofcoplanarandperpendicularcatalystlayer
configurationsontheperformanceofasingle-chamberSOFC 160
References 171
Index 175
About the authors
Prof. Majid Ghassemi is Professor in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering at the K. N. Toosi University of Technology; one of the
most prestigious technical universities in Tehran, Iran. Professor Ghassemi
has been recognized as Global Talent, also known as an Exceptional
Talent, endorsed by the Royal Academy of Engineering of the United
Kingdom, since 2015. He received that honor when he was acting as a
Visiting Professor at the Centre for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research at
the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. He teaches graduate
and undergraduate courses and conducts research in the area of heat trans-
fer and its application in bio and micro sensors, drug delivery, fuel cells,
micro channels and alternative energy. He has over 20 years of academic
and industrial experience and served as the President of the K. N. Toosi
University of Technology from 2010 to 2013. He has also served in
several public and private boards and panels and supervised several under-
graduate, Masters and PhD students, published several books and many
journal and conference papers.
He is currently Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board member of many
national and international journals as well as Organizing Committee
Member of many international conferences. He also serves as board mem-
ber in several international conferences. He received his PhD in
Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University in 1993.
Dr. Majid Kamvar is an Assistant Professor at the Department of
Mechanical Engineering at the Parand Islamic Azad University (PIAU),
Parand, Iran. Both his MSc and PhD work were performed in the area of
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) modeling. Dr. Kamvar’s research is
focused on the numerical investigation of SOFCs behavior with the aim
of SOFC performance enhancement and limitations overcoming. He is
currently teaching graduate and undergraduate courses and conducts
research in the areas of heat transfer as well as fluid flow and their applica-
tions in energy management of high temperature fuel cells. He has
10 years of academic and industrial experience and supervised several
undergraduate, Masters, and PhD students. He has succeeded to publish
xi
xii Abouttheauthors
several ISI journal papers and also attended in international conferences
held in the area of fuel cells.
Prof. Robert Steinberger-Wilckens is Professor for Fuel Cell and
Hydrogen Research in the School of Chemical Engineering at the
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. He is director of both the
Centre for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research and the Centre for
Doctoral Training in Fuel Cells and their Fuels, which is led by the
University of Birmingham, with participation by the universities of
Nottingham, and Loughborough, Imperial College, and University
College of London. He works and has worked in many areas across the
fields of renewable energies, energy efficiency, fuel cells, hydrogen pro-
duction and infrastructure, electric vehicle development, and environmen-
tal analysis for more than 25 years. During this period he has worked as a
consultant, project engineer, research manager, and in academia, publish-
ing over 250 scientific papers in journals and conference proceedings, as
well as contributing book chapters. Over 100 students have been super-
vised by him in the preparation of their PhD, MRes, Diploma, and MSc
theses. He has served on conference and editorial boards and is currently
the Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Fuel Cell and
Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking.
Preface
Fuel cells are energy conversion devices and one of the most efficient
technologies of generating electricity. They are used in combined heat
and power devices (CHP) or for vehicle propulsion, to name the two
main applications. They are also employed in space flight, for military
projects, in uninterrupted power supply systems, for portable power
sources, and in waste water treatment, among others.
Fundamentals of Heat and Fluid Flow in High Temperature Fuel Cells helps
engineers who are interested in improving their understanding of heat,
fluid, and mass transfer in high-temperature fuel cells, specifically Solid
Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs), as well as those who want to pursue their
career in related engineering fields.
The aim of this book is to introduce the fundamentals of heat, fluid,
and mass transfer and their applications in high-temperature fuel cells.
The book briefly covers different types of fuel cells and discusses the
SOFC in detail. Finally, the book introduces several case studies.
The book
(cid:129) provides in-depth knowledge of fuel cells, especially SOFC,
(cid:129) provides broad coverage of important issues related to the heat transfer
and fluid flow in high-temperature fuel cells,
(cid:129) explores applications of fuel cells in different industries, and
(cid:129) discusses case studies.
xiii
