Multiscale and Multiphysical Numerical Simulations of Solid Oxide Cell (SOC)

Abstract

This study presents a novel model for investigating the microstructural evolution of nickel (Ni), yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), and gas phases in a solid oxide cell (SOC), and its effects on cell performance. The triple-phase-boundary (TPB), which is the interface between the three phases, plays a crucial role in the electrochemical reaction of the SOC. However, during operation, nickel particles coarsen or migrate, leading to the redistribution of the TPB. To study this phenomenon, a phase field method was utilized to simulate the fuel electrode's detailed structure, and an approach was developed to track the TPB lines (TPBl) and voxels (TPBv). The study then employed the open-source computational fluid dynamics library, OpenFOAM, to simulate the half-cell performance. The results provide a detailed understanding of the dynamics of the TPB and its impact on multiphysical transport phenomena.