Afterburner temperature safety assessment for solid oxide fuel cell system based on computational fluid dynamics

As an energy conversion and generation device that converts hydrogen energy into electrical energy, the solid oxide fuel cell is one of the most promising fuel cells. However, thermal stability is the major reason for the shortened solid oxide fuel cell lifetime of hybrid electric vehicles usage. In existing solid oxide fuel cell system, the peak temperature occurs in the afterburner, so the thermal safety assessment is very important for solid oxide fuel cell stack. In this paper, afterburner thermal performance of natural gas solid oxide fuel cell system is studied based on computational fluid dynamics simulation. The model is analysed by changing gas temperature, gas flow velocity, gas composition ratio and steam to carbon ratio. The afterburner temperature distribution and its safety characteristics are obtained through model analysis. The simulation and discussion results can guide the thermoelectric safety assessment and controller design of the SOFC system.