Volume 65

Thermal Performance Comparison and Control Development for Counter- and Co-Flow Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells Hao Chen, Giovanni Biancini, Erik Dahlquist, Hailong Li, Eva Thorin

Abstract

Solid oxide electrolysis is a promising technology for green hydrogen production. However, its wide thermal operating range, spanning endothermic, thermoneutral, and exothermic regimes, poses significant challenges for thermal management, particularly during load-following operations. Insufficient control of temperature and thermal gradients can result in substantial thermal stresses, leading to reduced durability and, in severe cases, cracking or failure of cells and stacks.
This work investigates the thermal performance of counter-flow and co-flow solid oxide electrolysis cells. A dynamic multi-physics model is developed to simulate coupled electrochemical, thermal, and fluid-flow behaviors. A model predictive control strategy, regulating both cathode and anode flows, is implemented for active thermal control of solid oxide electrolysis cells. The performance of the model predictive control strategy is compared to that of a traditional proportional–integral controller. The results demonstrate that the proposed control strategy outperforms the traditional proportional–integral controller. It effectively maintains the cell temperature at the target value of 800 °C while keeping the maximum thermal gradient across the cell at a moderate level, limited to 6 °C/cm for both co-flow and counter-flow configurations.

Keywords hydrogen, solid oxide electrolysis, thermal management, load following, model predictive control