Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) capability to be operated at high temperatures has
made it possible for a SOFC to be utilized using various types of fuel. Using the high temperature nature of SOFC, utilizing reformed hydrogen obtained from hydrocarbon reforming and utilizing methane directly to SOFC can initiate electrochemical redox via Methane Steam Reforming (MSR) reaction and Water Gas Shift Reaction (WGSR). A numerical model coupled with MSR and WGSR reaction has been made to investigate the SOFC performance when humidified hydrogen, reformed hydrogen from methane reforming, or when methane is selected as fuel. In all fuel cases, higher temperatures will always give higher power density output. From humidified hydrogen cases, reducing hydrogen content will reduce SOFC power output. Using the present numerical model of reformed hydrogen-powered SOFC, it is discovered that varying operating temperature, electrical load, and ?2/?? composition ratio show a complex behavior of average WGSR rate and maximum power output. As increasing SOFC temperature, ?2/?? and electrical load lead to Reverse Water Gas Shift Reaction (RWGSR) that consumes hydrogen, which is disadvantageous in SOFC operation. An optimum value of ?2/?? is discovered using the present numerical model, which at that fuel composition, changing temperature and electrical load will not shift the WGSR to RWGSR, thus more ?2 produces for the SOFC. It is also discovered that RWGSR limits the maximum power density output of the SOFC. This means that there is a limitation for increasing hydrogen content, where increasing hydrogen further will not increase the maximum power output even further. In methane-powered SOFC cases, it is discovered that the purest methane variation shows the highest power output. Increasing steam and ??2 content in initial fuel composition will reduce maximum power output. But, it is found that increasing ??2 content reduces the temperature drop due to MSR, which is advantageous for SOFC performance. Varying initial steam and ??2 content in fuel also show different MSR and WGSR behavior in terms of reaction rate value and distribution of reaction. The case with the lowest methane content (50% ??4 + 50% ??2) shows how RWGSR dominates over WGSR in the fuel region, while the pure methane case shows WGSR is more dominant than RWGSR in SOFC.

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