Analysis of reformate syngas mixture fed solid oxide fuel cell through experimental and 0-D thermodynamic modeling studies

In this study, the performance assessment of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) fed with a reformate syngas mixture and having anode off-gas recirculation is done in terms of energy and exergy analyses. In this regard, a zero-dimensional (0-D) mathematical model for SOFCs is developed. This model is validated by the results of the in-house experimental studies. In addition, parametric studies are carried out to assess the effect of operating parameters on fuel cell performance. The results show that the proposed model is very agreeable with experimental studies. The maximum error found in the validated model is 6.8% at the operating temperature of 800 °C. In addition, it is shown that the anode off-gas recirculation ratio does not have a significant effect on the performance of the SOFC at low current densities. Furthermore, the exergy destruction rate of SOFC increases by 23.2% under the high current density condition (i = 1.4 A/cm²) when the fuel utilization ratio increases from 0.75 to 0.95.