A Nonlinear Elliptical Problem for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathodes

Wang, Xiaojing

Student Work

A Nonlinear Elliptical Problem for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathodes Public

This Major Qualifying Project considers a nonlinear elliptical steady-state reaction- diffusion-conduction problem for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The existence of a solution is proven by showing the existence of a minimum of an appropriate energy functional, then using the Dirichlet principle to show that the minimum is a solution to the original problem. The uniqueness of the solution can be proven by application of Green's first identity. Numerical computations of the solution are performed, and comparisons are made to decide on a range for the surface exchange current density parameter.

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