Comprehensive numerical investigations on direct ammonia-fed planar solid oxide fuel cell

This study aims at presenting comprehensive insights into the ammonia-utilization in SOFCs using a numerical model developed in 3D for a laboratory-size SOFC and also enlarged to a commercial-size to provide more realistic insights. The verification of the model using the experimental data, and the description of the Ammonia Decomposition Reaction (ACR) kinetics using a rate equation derived from a real SOFC anode make the model, computations, and analyses more accurate. Temperature appears as the most effective on the ACR rate, whereas the impacts of the cell potential and fuel feed rate are insignificant. The ACR rate and endothermic cooling peak around the fuel inlet. However, the distributions of the ACR rate, concentration of species, temperature, and current depend strongly on the active area. In the commercial-size SOFC, except the fuel inlet region, the remaining area exhibits the characteristics which are usually observed when a SOFC is fed by hydrogen.