Numerical study on current leakage of a tubular protonic ceramic fuel cell

Xin Huang, Jixin Shi*, Zerui Liu, Yuqing Wang, Xiaofeng Ye, Yixiang Shi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are promising electrochemical energy conversion devices that operate at intermediate temperatures. However, the leakage current resulting from the nonnegligible electronic conductivity in the electrolyte significantly impacts the energy efficiency of PCFC. Therefore, understanding the characteristics of the leakage current is crucial for the optimization of PCFC. In this study, we develop a two-dimensional multi-physics coupling model of a tubular protonic ceramic fuel cell considering leakage current. The multi-ion transport process in the electrolyte is solved by the Nernst–Planck equation. Based on this model, we investigate the effects of cell heat generation and inlet oxygen concentration on the leakage current and cell efficiency. We analyze the impact mechanism of multi-physics coupling on the leakage current. We study the axial temperature and leakage current distribution of the cell, and we reduce the nonuniformity of the temperature and leakage current through thermal management method.

Original languageEnglish
Article number236241
JournalJournal of Power Sources
Volume631
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2025

Keywords

  • Efficiency
  • Leakage current
  • Multi-physics coupling model
  • Protonic ceramic fuel cell

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