SOFC Stack and System Modeling, Fault Diagnosis and Control

Abstract

This report is an account of research and development activities undertaken by the Centre for Process Systems Computations, Department of Chemical Engineering at Curtin University, Western Australia in the area of solid oxide fuel cells. The focus of work of the group included 1) effect of cell macrostructure and microstructure on electrochemical performance with a view to optimise both macro- and micro-structure 2) electrochemistry modeling for simulating electrochemical performance 3) internal reforming aspects impacting performance at cell/stack and system levels 4) system level modeling investigating cell internal profiles (temperature, gas composition), homogeneity improvement, thermal management, anode recycle, fuel diversity, oxygen quality, and 5) monitoring for diagnostics, optimisation and control. The report summarizes work done over a period of 15 years and highlights areas of research gaps and future directions for research in the path to mass-scale commercialisation of the solid oxide fuel cell technology