A Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of Hydrogen Leakage and Nitrogen Purging of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack

A computational study of the nitrogen purging of a solid oxide fuel cell stack enclosed in a hot box is presented. The stack operates on ammonia as a fuel, and in the case of a hydrogen leakage, the entire compartment is immediately purged with nitrogen to ensure that there are no regions with high oxygen concentrations. In addition to this, the speed at which a hydrogen leak can be detected is determined. The results are then compared to a case with a relocated nitrogen inlet. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed using the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations for compressible flow in combination with conservation of energy and species equations in OpenFOAM. The results suggest that for the maximum concentration of oxygen to be below 5%, the hot box should be purged for 35 s, corresponding to 1.1 kg of nitrogen, if the hot box was already heated. If the hot box was at T = 300 K, it should be purged for 95 s, corresponding to 3.0 kg of nitrogen. The purge of the heated hot box results in a heat loss of 18 kW on average. A leak could be detected in 3.2 s during open circuit voltage tests. Changing the location of the outlet does not affect the cold purge, but results in a minimum purge period of 48 s during the hot purge, and the leak could be detected in 2 s. This paper demonstrates how CFD methods can be employed in order to address questions related to hydrogen safety.