A parametric study on exergetic performance of a YSZ electrolyte supported SOFC stack

Abstract

This paper presents a parametric study on the exergetic performance assessment of an electrolyte supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack. Considering the operating and design parameters of yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte supported SOFC stack, the variations of overpotentials, the rational overpotentials and the exergetic efficiencies are investigated for comparison purposes. Consequently, considering the selected operating conditions and design parameters, it is suggested that the YSZ electrolyte supported SOFC stack having higher exergetic efficiency than 30% is used. Moreover, in order to operate such a fuel cell in an exergetically more efficient manner, the minimum YSZ electrolyte thickness needs to be thicker than 150 mu m. Otherwise, some durability and manufacture problems may occur. However, a decrease of operating temperatures from 1273 K to 1073 K and an increase of YSZ electrolyte thickness from 150 mu m to 500 mu m will result in a reduced exergetic efficiency.