Thermal Degradation of Homogeneous Tubular SOFC’s and Its Effects on System Level Performance for an Ammonia Fed SOFC-C-GT Hybrid System for Commercial Aviation

Electrification in aviation promises fewer emissions and a decrease in fuel burn. A solid oxide fuel cell combustor technology integrated with a conventional gas turbine is one such technology. Although integrated SOFC hybrid systems can achieve these goals for cleaner emissions, there is still uncertainty with their ability to handle degradation seen in commercial aviation. In this study, analysis is done from the microstructural scale, to the continuum scale to measure a single tube’s performance, to the system scale of the SOFC tubes in an integrated hybrid system for commercial aviation. The phase field method (PFM) is used to simulate the thermal degradation and microstructural evolution of the electrode where key assumptions about the mobility of the YSZ in the anode has a large impact on the dynamics of cell degradation. Two models from literature are compared and insights are gained into what the assumptions of each has on the system along its lifetime. The system level performance is modeled and range and system mass are observed as functions of cell performance.