Temperature distribution analysis of air preheating in a honeycomb SOFC

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is expected to be a candidate for distributed power sources in the next generation, due to its high efficiency, high-temperature waste heat utilization and low emission of pollutants to the environment. A number of models for planar SOFCs have been constructed, and co-flow, counter-flow and cross-flow simulations have been reported. In many cases, the variations of temperature in the cells are relatively large, so that the stresses in the cells increase and cell may be destroyed. In this study, we pay attention to the honeycomb SOFC having air preheating paths. One-dimensional model was constructed and preliminary temperature distribution analysis was done. It was observed that the increase in temperature could be reduced. Furthermore, the unified temperature distribution could be expected.