Design of a tubular segmented-in-series solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC): One-dimensional steady state modeling

In this study, a one-dimensional steady-state model has been established for rapidly predicting the output performance of tubular segmented-in-series solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), which will be used for the structural and material design of T-SIS-SOFC to improve output performance. This model simplifies ohmic polarization, activation polarization, and concentration polarization into equivalent resistances, while also considering the impact of contact resistance, interconnects, supports, and current collectors on the output performance. After validation, the model has proven reliable in predicting the output performance of cells with different structures. For a single cell, ohmic polarization is the primary influencing factor, and increasing conductivity through methods such as raising temperature, modifying materials, or reducing thickness can significantly reduce ohmic polarization. For the entire tubular SOFC system, when the total length is fixed, there exists an optimal number of cells and an optimal length for each cell. Based on the material and structure of the single cell unit employed in this paper, the maximum output power, approximately 48 W, is achieved when the number of cell units is 30.