Tortuosity Model of a Three-Dimensional Stacked Cylindrical Particles Porous Medium for Using with the Thin Film Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Electrodes

Abstract

This work is precisely intended to derive an analytical model for tortuosity of streamlines in a three dimensional porous material of fuel cell electrodes, especially for the thin film electrode of solid oxide fuel cells. The arrangement of the particles that form the electrodes as the cylindrical particles stack, only arrange together in the vertical direction. The model is derived assuming and averaging over some possible streamlines around the particles and for the different particle
configuration arrangements, and focuses only on the flow of a streamline passing the vertical stack cylinders. The present model is only dependent on distance between particles and particle sizes. The model predictions are successfully compared to the correlation obtained from available experiments in the literature, especially at high cylinder height to diameter ratios. There is agreement on the thin film electrode characteristics of solid oxide fuel cells.

Keywords: analytical model, cylindrical particles stack, fuel cells, porous material, thin film