Chen, Z.X., Ingham, D.B., Ismail, M.S. et al. (3 more authors) (2019) Dynamics of liquid water in the anode flow channels of PEM fuel cells: A numerical parametric study. Journal of the Energy Institute, 92 (6). pp. 1956-1967. ISSN 1743-9671
Abstract
A 3D volume of fluid (VOF) model for an anode channel in a PEM fuel cell has been built. The effects of the initial position of the water droplet, its size as well as the wettability of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) are investigated under different operating conditions. It is found that the initial position of the relatively small water droplet in the channel has almost no effect on the pressure drop and the time taken for the liquid water to move out from the channel; however, such effects become more profound as the size of the water droplet increases. Also, when the droplet is placed at the side wall of the channel, then it develops into pockets of water that are mainly located at the upper corners of the channel, thus causing a smaller pressure drop compared to the cases in which the water droplet is placed either on the surface of the GDL or on the top wall of the channel. Furthermore, the hydrogen velocity is found to have a negligible effect on the dynamics of liquid water; however, the pressure drop and removal time are significantly influenced by the hydrogen velocity. Moreover, as the size of the water droplet increases, the pressure drop increases and the time required for the liquid water to move out of the channel decreases. Finally, the pressure drop in the channel decreases and the removal time of the liquid water increases as the contact angle of the GDL decreases.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 Energy Institute. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of the Energy Institute. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | PEM fuel cells; Anode flow channel; VOF model; GDL wettability |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Mechanical Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Feb 2019 12:38 |
Last Modified: | 18 Nov 2021 12:29 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.joei.2018.10.016 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:142883 |