Heat and Mass Transfer in a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (Experimental and Analytical Investigation of Fuel Cell Temperature Distribution)

Abstract

The temperature distribution of a molten carbonate fuel cell was investigated experimentally and analytically during electric power generation. A numerical method to solve the fuel cell temperature distribution was proposed and examined. The method searches for the steady-state temperature whose changes are coupled with the electro-chemical reactions and gas flow. Calculation results were compared with experimental results, and reasonable agreement was obtained. As a consequence, the effect of heat conduction was observed to be closely related to the temperature distribution of the fuel cell.