Direct Ammonia Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack: Modelling and Experimental Validation

Abstract

Interest in ammonia as an energy carrier is growing due toits superior storage and transport properties compared tohydrogen. The objective of this work is to construct auseful tool for predicting the behavior of a solid oxidefuel cell (SOFC) stack fed directly with ammonia. Thisconfiguration is particularly interesting because theinternal cracking of ammonia eliminates the need for anexternal cracker, thus reducing the overall cost of thesystem. The ammonia decomposition reaction was implementedin the anode channel of the stack and calibrated againstliterature results. The model was then validated in theohmic region only by calculating the area specificresistance (ASR) and comparing the results withexperimental data collected at the Bruno Kessler Foundation(FBK) laboratory. This SOFC model can therefore be used asa starting point for the analysis of a scale-up application.