(65b) Thermal Fluid Analysis of a Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell for Oxygen Production from Carbon Dioxide

The development of novel life support systems is necessary for human exploration of Mars. A major resource that is required is breathable oxygen. A promising approach is the use of a Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell (SOEC) to reduce the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere (96% by volume) to oxygen. However, the production of SOEC stacks has not been automated and requires manual assembly. Each cell layer is stacked between two compression discs which are tightened to hold the cells in place. With large stacks, this approach can generate variations in cell flow channel heights throughout the stack, potentially affecting cell efficiencies and thermal management of the stack. A CFD model of a single cell is developed and analyzed in ANSYS^® Fluent to determine the effects of these cell variations. Cathode and Anode air flow channel heights from 1.8-2.2 mm are considered.