Simulation of two types fuel cell stack models to investigate the relationship between air flow distribution and structure

For solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks, it is generally agreed that the distribution qualities of the fuel and air flows would determine the temperature and pressure distribution within the stack. The flow distribution within the stack is considered to depend largely on the geometry of the stack. According to the direction of inlet flow and outlet flow, the designs of the stack can be divided into U-type structure and Z-type structure, and stacks with two structural characteristics should have some similar flow characteristics. Researchers generally have different degrees of understanding of Z- or U-type characteristics, but there are few intuitive experiments and reports on these two types of structures at a larger stack scale. In this paper, two typical one-in-one output stacks with 30 layers in Z-type and U-type models are developed to investigate the general flow distribution.