Effects of non-uniform inlet flow on the performance of a molten carbonate fuel cell stack

Abstract

This study develops a quasi-three dimensional numerical method for analyzing three-dimensional temperature and cell voltage distribution in a ten-layer molten carbonate fuel cell. The authors consider the non-uniform profile as progressively increasing along the stacking direction, and assign it to the anode gas inlet or cathode gas inlet to form four kinds of patterns. Results indicate that the non-uniform molar flow rate of cathode gas obviously changes the temperature field of a molten carbonate fuel cell stack, and highest cell temperature occurs at the cathode gas exit in the layer with the lowest molar flow rate. Moreover, non-uniform anode gas in the stacking direction strongly affects cell voltage distribution in the molten carbonate fuel cell stack. Variation rate of average cell temperature and cell voltage among different layers along the stacking direction are 2% and 40%, apparently larger than the variation rate due to non-uniformity in the transverse direction in our previous research.