Kinetic modelling of molten carbonate fuel cells: Effects of cathode water and electrode materials

Through previous campaigns the authors developed a semi-empirical kinetic model to describe MCFC performance for industrial and laboratory simulation. Although effective in a wide range of operating conditions, the model was validated for specific electrode materials and dry feeding cathode compositions. The new aim is to prove that with appropriate improvements it is possible to apply the model to MCFC provided by different suppliers and to new sets of reactant gases. Specifically, this paper describes the procedures to modify the model to switch among different materials and identify a new parameter taking into account the effects of cathode water vapour. The new equation is integrated as the kinetic core within the SIMFC (SIMulation of Fuel Cells) code, an MCFC 3D model set up by the PERT group of the University of Genova, for reliability test. Validation is performed using data collected through tests carried out at the University of Perugia using single cells. The results are discussed giving examples of the simulated performance with varying operating conditions. The final formulation average percentage error obtained for all the simulated cases with respect to experimental results is maintained around 1%, despite the difference between the basic and the new conditions and facilities.