The effect of current collectors configuration on the performance of a tubular SOFC

Abstract

When a tubular configuration is considered, different options for the current collectors can be considered. The performance of a single cell is strictly connected to the geometrical configuration of the current collectors. Even if every cell component presents excellent performance, and the cell is manufactured in an outstanding way, a wrong choice of current collection can drastically reduce the overall performance. In the present study, different configurations are considered and analyzed through a detailed numerical model, implemented through finite element code. The analysis allows one to evaluate the performance of different cell configurations, as well as understanding the phenomena that cause the performance reduction, thus finding possible design improvements.