Amirkabir University of Technology Amirkabir Journal of Mechanical Engineering 2008-6032 55 7 2023 09 23 Numerical Simulation of a Biogas-fueled Solid Oxide Fuel Cell and the Investigation of the Influence of Operating Conditions Numerical Simulation of a Biogas-fueled Solid Oxide Fuel Cell and the Investigation of the Influence of Operating Conditions 895 916 5304 10.22060/mej.2023.22280.7593 FA Morteza Mehrabian Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran Javad Mahmoudimehr Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran Journal Article 2023 03 26 <span style="letter-spacing: .05pt;">Using biogas, rather than pure hydrogen, in a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) can help the green energy production chain. This research investigates the influence of operating conditions on the performance of a biogas-fueled SOFC. In this regard, a 3D numerical model is developed using a finite volume approach and Fluent software. User Defined Functions are employed to introduce the steam reforming processes inside the SOFC. The second-order upwind scheme and SIMPLE algorithm are used for the discretization of governing equations and the pressure-velocity coupling. The results indicate that the power density first increases and then decreases by increasing the steam-to-fuel (S/C) ratio. Increasing the biogas methane content causes the performance of the SOFC to improve by enhancing the rates of reforming reactions. At a voltage of 0.5V and an operating temperature of 1073K, increasing the biogas methane percentage from 45% to 65%, causes the power to increase by 15%. Also, increasing the operating temperature enhances the SOFC performance by increasing the rates of reforming and electrochemical reactions and the electrolyte ionic conductivity. At a voltage of 0.5V, for a biogas methane percentage of 65%, increasing the operating temperature from 1073K to 1273K leads to a 132% growth of power. It is also found that the optimal S/C ratio decreases with temperature and increases with biogas methane content and lies within the range of 0.3-1.2.</span> <span style="letter-spacing: .05pt;">Using biogas, rather than pure hydrogen, in a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) can help the green energy production chain. This research investigates the influence of operating conditions on the performance of a biogas-fueled SOFC. In this regard, a 3D numerical model is developed using a finite volume approach and Fluent software. User Defined Functions are employed to introduce the steam reforming processes inside the SOFC. The second-order upwind scheme and SIMPLE algorithm are used for the discretization of governing equations and the pressure-velocity coupling. The results indicate that the power density first increases and then decreases by increasing the steam-to-fuel (S/C) ratio. Increasing the biogas methane content causes the performance of the SOFC to improve by enhancing the rates of reforming reactions. At a voltage of 0.5V and an operating temperature of 1073K, increasing the biogas methane percentage from 45% to 65%, causes the power to increase by 15%. Also, increasing the operating temperature enhances the SOFC performance by increasing the rates of reforming and electrochemical reactions and the electrolyte ionic conductivity. At a voltage of 0.5V, for a biogas methane percentage of 65%, increasing the operating temperature from 1073K to 1273K leads to a 132% growth of power. It is also found that the optimal S/C ratio decreases with temperature and increases with biogas methane content and lies within the range of 0.3-1.2.</span> https://mej.aut.ac.ir/article_5304_ce059ef4192cbdcb40df4422c090f1c3.pdf