Short stack modeling of degradation in solid oxide fuel cells Part II. Sensitivity and interaction analysis

Abstract In the first part of this two-paper series, we presented a numerical model of the impedance behaviour of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) aimed at simulating the change in the impedance spectrum induced by contact degradation at the interconnect-electrode, and at the electrode–electrolyte interfaces. The purpose of that investigation was to develop a non-invasive diagnostic technique to identify degradation modes in situ. In the present paper, we appraise the predictive capabilities of the proposed method in terms of its robustness to uncertainties in the input parameters, many of which are very difficult to measure independently. We applied this technique to the degradation modes simulated in Part I, in addition to anode sulfur poisoning. Electrode delamination showed the highest robustness to input parameter variations, followed by interconnect oxidation and interconnect detachment. The most sensitive degradation mode was sulfur poisoning, due to strong parameter interactions. In addition, we simulate several simultaneous two-degradation-mode scenarios, assessing the method's capabilities and limitations for the prediction of electrochemical behaviour of SOFC's undergoing multiple simultaneous degradation modes.

[1]  D. D. Pollock.  Physical properties of materials for engineers , 1982 .

[2]  Henricus J.M. Bouwmeester,et al.  Electrode Properties of Sr‐Doped LaMnO3 on Yttria‐Stabilized Zirconia II. Electrode Kinetics , 1997 .

[3]  J. Newman,et al.  Impedance Model for a Concentrated Solution Application to the Electrodissolution of Copper in Chloride Solutions , 1984 .

[4]  J. I. Gazzarri,et al.  Short-stack modeling of degradation in solid oxide fuel cells: Part I. Contact degradation , 2008 .

[5]  J. I. Gazzarri,et al.  Electrochemical AC impedance model of a solid oxide fuel cell and its application to diagnosis of multiple degradation modes , 2007 .

[6]  Y. Matsuzaki,et al.  The Poisoning Effect of Sulfur-Containing Impurity Gas on a SOFC Anode: Part I , 2000 .

[7]  Paola Costamagna,et al.  Modeling of Solid Oxide Heat Exchanger Integrated Stacks and Simulation at High Fuel Utilization , 1998 .

[8]  K. Kendall,et al.  High temperature solid oxide fuel cells : fundamentals, design and applicatons , 2003 .

[9]  K. Karan,et al.  Impact of Nonuniform Potential in SOFC Composite Cathodes on the Determination of Electrochemical Kinetic Parameters A Numerical Analysis , 2006 .

[10]  W. Lehnert,et al.  Statistical geometry of reaction space in porous cermet anodes based on ion-conducting electrolytes: Patterns of degradation , 1999 .

[11]  H. Schichlein,et al.  Deconvolution of electrochemical impedance spectra for the identification of electrode reaction mechanisms in solid oxide fuel cells , 2002 .

[12]  E. Ivers-Tiffée,et al.  Materials and technologies for SOFC-components , 2001 .

[13]  Daniel Favrat,et al.  Simulation of SOFC stack and repeat elements including interconnect degradation and anode reoxidation risk , 2006 .

[14]  Novel anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells , 2002 .

[15]  J. Park,et al.  Electronic transport in thermally grown Cr2O3 , 1990 .

[16]  Mogens Bjerg Mogensen,et al.  Impedance of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell LSM/YSZ Composite Cathodes , 2001 .

[17]  Tomoo Iwata,et al.  Characterization of Ni‐YSZ Anode Degradation for Substrate‐Type Solid Oxide Fuel Cells , 1996 .

[18]  Meilin Liu,et al.  Sulfur Poisoning and Regeneration of Ni-Based Anodes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells , 2007 .

[19]  L. Singheiser,et al.  Growth Mechanisms and Electrical Conductivity of Oxide Scales on Ferritic Steels Proposed as Interconnect Materials for SOFC's , 2006 .

[20]  Subhash C. Singhal,et al.  Estimation of Charge-Transfer Resistivity of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 Cathode on Y 0.16Zr0.84 O 2 Electrolyte Using Patterned Electrodes , 2005 .

[21]  John B. Goodenough,et al.  Characterization of Iron-Based Alloy Interconnects for Reduced Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells , 2000 .

[22]  Robert E. Wilson,et al.  Fundamentals of momentum, heat, and mass transfer , 1969 .

[23]  Feng Zhao,et al.  Measurement of O 2 ­ N 2 Effective Diffusivity in Porous Media at High Temperatures Using an Electrochemical Cell , 2003 .

[24]  T. Brylewski,et al.  Application of Fe–16Cr ferritic alloy to interconnector for a solid oxide fuel cell , 2001 .

[25]  R. Kee,et al.  Modeling Electrochemical Impedance Spectra in SOFC Button Cells with Internal Methane Reforming , 2006 .

[26]  L. A. Chick,et al.  Diffusion Limitations in the Porous Anodes of SOFCs , 2003 .

[27]  Aislinn H. C. Sirk,et al.  Impact of porous electrode properties on the electrochemical transfer coefficient. , 2006, The journal of physical chemistry. B.

[28]  M. Mogensen,et al.  Durability and thermal cycling of Ni/YSZ cermet anodes for solid oxide fuel cells , 2000 .

[29]  L. C. Jonghe,et al.  Protective coating on stainless steel interconnect for SOFCs: oxidation kinetics and electrical properties , 2005 .

[30]  J. I. Gazzarri,et al.  Non-destructive delamination detection in solid oxide fuel cells , 2007 .

[31]  V. Antonucci,et al.  Micro-modelling of solid oxide fuel cell electrodes , 1998 .