TY - GEN
T1 - A thermally self-sustaining miniature solid oxide fuel cell
AU - Ahn, Jeongmin
AU - Shao, Zongping
AU - Ronney, Paul D.
AU - Haile, Sossina M.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - A thermally self-sustaining miniature power generation device was developed utilizing a single-chamber solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) placed in a controlled thermal environment provided by a spiral counterflow "Swiss roll" heat exchanger and combustor. With the single-chamber design, fuel/oxygen crossover due to cracking of seals via thermal cycling is irrelevant and coking on the anode is practically eliminated. Appropriate SOFC operating temperatures were maintained even at low Reynolds numbers (Re) via combustion of the fuel cell effluent at the center of the Swiss roll. Both propane and higher hydrocarbon fuels were examined. Extinction limits and thermal behavior of the integrated system were determined in equivalence ratio - Re parameter space and an optimal regime for SOFC operation was identified. SOFC power densities up to 420 mW/cm2 were observed at low Re. These results suggest that single-chamber SOFC's integrated with heat-recirculating combustors may be a viable approach for small-scale power generation devices.
AB - A thermally self-sustaining miniature power generation device was developed utilizing a single-chamber solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) placed in a controlled thermal environment provided by a spiral counterflow "Swiss roll" heat exchanger and combustor. With the single-chamber design, fuel/oxygen crossover due to cracking of seals via thermal cycling is irrelevant and coking on the anode is practically eliminated. Appropriate SOFC operating temperatures were maintained even at low Reynolds numbers (Re) via combustion of the fuel cell effluent at the center of the Swiss roll. Both propane and higher hydrocarbon fuels were examined. Extinction limits and thermal behavior of the integrated system were determined in equivalence ratio - Re parameter space and an optimal regime for SOFC operation was identified. SOFC power densities up to 420 mW/cm2 were observed at low Re. These results suggest that single-chamber SOFC's integrated with heat-recirculating combustors may be a viable approach for small-scale power generation devices.
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U2 - 10.1115/IMECE2007-41137
DO - 10.1115/IMECE2007-41137
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:44249095121
SN - 0791843009
SN - 9780791843000
T3 - ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings
SP - 117
EP - 122
BT - Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2007
T2 - ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2007
Y2 - 11 November 2007 through 15 November 2007
ER -