Reply To: Reaction Boundary Condition for SOEC Modeling

[Aleksey Gerasimov]

Hello Mehmood,

Please leave the reaction mechanism untouched in the "Cell Zone" ->"Reaction" tab. If the reaction is not glowing, then please try to reinitialize the case differently, fun the simulation with the fluid flow, energy and species only, to ensure a realistic distribution of steam. Please ensure that the conditions for the reversed flow are set realistically and the temperature of the cell is sufficient to support the reaction. It is worth paying particular attention to this aspect if you see  reversed flow at the outlets. Once you see that the steam is available in the reaction zone and everything looks realistic, then you can switch on the electrochemistry sources. There are different solution-steering strategies are available and covered by tutorials. 

You can also switch on the solution of the potential equation, as an initial or interim step, and see whether the potential distribution looks realistic or not.

The last issue, please see whether the anode and cathode are specified constently. The convention is different for power-producing devices, such as fuel cells, and for power-consuming equipment, such as electrolyzers. Our dedicated PEMWE and AEM electrolysis models have the correct notation. The SOEC model however, has it similar to SOFC, and not in-line with this convention. The reason being is that the addon fuel-cell module is used for this purpose, with fuel-cell, convention and is forced to work in reverse. The user guide explains this deviation from the convention.

Please check,

Kind regards,

Aleksey.