Interconnector Heat Transfer Circuit for SOFC and Electrolyser Thermal Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current high-temperature electrolysis and solid oxide fuel cell systems face challenges in managing thermal operating regimes, including thermal shocks, material durability, and efficiency due to the coupling of thermal and conversion rates, which affects the flexibility and longevity of the systems.
Innovation Solution
Integration of a distinct heat transfer fluid circuit within the interconnector, allowing for independent management of thermal regimes and reactive gas flow rates, decoupling thermal conditions from conversion rates, and using chemically neutral or reactive gases to optimize reaction efficiency without compromising temperature uniformity or mechanical integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a heat exchanger is used upstream of the electrolyzer to prevent thermal shocks, then thermal shock resistance is improved, but the temperature difference between incoming and outgoing gases increases to at least 50°C, which is harmful to temperature homogeneity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the heat exchanger function directly into the interconnector structure by integrating cooling channels within the interconnector itself. This eliminates the need for a separate upstream heat exchanger, allowing heat removal at the exact location where thermal shocks occur while maintaining temperature homogeneity across the electrolyzer stack.
Solution Approach 2:
The interconnector acts as an intermediary element that simultaneously performs electrical connection, fluid distribution, and thermal management functions. By embedding cooling channels within the interconnector, it mediates between the electrolysis cells and the external cooling system, enabling localized heat removal without disrupting gas flow temperature profiles.
2Device complexity
If the thermal regime and conversion rate are coupled in existing interconnectors, then thermal management is simplified, but flexibility and efficiency are reduced due to inability to independently optimize thermal and conversion parameters
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the thermal management function from the gas flow path by creating separate cooling channels within the interconnector that are independent of the reactive gas flow routes. This segmentation allows the thermal regime to be controlled separately from the conversion rate, enabling independent optimization of both parameters for enhanced operational flexibility and efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated cooling channels enable dynamic adjustment of thermal conditions independent of conversion rate changes. The system can adaptively respond to varying operational demands by independently controlling cooling flow rates and temperatures, providing dynamic thermal management that enhances operational versatility.
3Device complexity
If water vapor is used as both reactive gas and heat transfer fluid, then system complexity is reduced, but thermal and conversion rates become coupled, reducing operational flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the fluid pathways by creating distinct cooling channels separated from the water vapor reaction channels within the interconnector structure. This physical segmentation allows different fluids to flow independently through different pathways, enabling water vapor to serve as reactive gas while a separate fluid (such as air or inert gas) serves as heat transfer fluid, thereby decoupling thermal and conversion rate control.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances the flexibility and efficiency of high-temperature electrolysis and fuel cell operations by allowing precise control of thermal and gas flow, reducing material stress, and improving the hydrogen conversion rate without excessive temperature fluctuations, thus extending system longevity and reducing operational costs.
Implementation Method 1
supply and distribute within each interconnector a heat transfer gas capable of bringing or evacuating heat to each elementary cell
Implementation Method 2
the heat transfer gas mixes with the hydrogen produced upstream or respectively with the carbon monoxide produced upstream
Implementation Method 3
the heat transfer gas mixes with the oxygen produced and the draining gas
Implementation Method 4
the dissociation of water molecules in vapor form is carried out at the interface between the hydrogen electrode (cathode) and the electrolyte: this dissociation produces dihydrogen gas H2 and oxygen ions
Implementation Method 5
The O2-
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to the integration of a heat exchanger into an interconnector that can be used in both a SOFC fuel cell and an EHT electrolyser, which allows a heat-transfer fluid different from that in the reactive and drainage gas circuits to be circulated from the inlet of the reactor, thereby allowing the best possible management of the exothermic operating modes of the SOFC cell and the exothermic or endothermic operating modes of the EHT electrolyser and the SOFC cell, especially in the absence of current for the latter.