Numerical Study on Effect of Flow Field Configuration on Air-Breathing Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Stacks
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Numerical Method
2.1. Description of the Computation Domain
2.2. Governing Equations
2.3. The Compression of GDL
2.4. Boundary Conditions
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Validation of Grid Independence and Simulation Model
3.2. Effect of Cathode Open Area Ratio on the Performance of a Single Fuel Cell
3.3. Effect of Anode Flow Field Configuration on Fuel Cell Stack Performance
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Source Terms | Equations |
---|---|
O2 (kg m−3 s−1) | |
H2 (kg m−3 s−1) | |
Liquid water (kg m−3 s−1) | |
Gas water (kg m−3 s−1) | |
Gas mixture (kg m−3 s−1) | |
Water evaporates and condenses (kg m−3 s−1) | |
Electron and ion potential (A m−3) | |
Membrane water content (mol m−3 s−1) | |
Membrane water by pressure difference (mol m−3 s−1) | |
Absorption and desorption of membrane water (kg m−3 s−1) | |
Energy (W m−3) |
Parameters | Values |
---|---|
Thichnesses of GDL, MPL, ACL, CCL, PEM (μm) | 200, 20, 5, 10, 50.8 |
Relative humidity | 0.1 @ anode; 0.2 @ cathode |
Temperature (K) | 308.15 |
Stoichiometric ratio | 1.5 @ anode |
Outlet pressure (atm) | 1.0 |
Intrinsic permeabilities of MPL, GDL, and CL (m2) | 1.0 × 10−12, 1.0 × 10−11, 1.0 × 10−13 |
Porosities of MPL and GDL | 0.6, 0.78 |
Contact angles of MPL, GDL, and CL (°) | 120, 120, 100 |
Specific heat capacities of BP, GDL, MPL, CL, and PEM (J kg−1 K−1) | 1580, 568, 3300, 3300, 833 |
Ionic conductivities of BP, GDL, MPL, and CL (S m−1) | 20,000, 8000, 5000, 5000 |
Thermal conductivities of BP, MPL, CL, and PEM (W m−1 K−1) | 20, 1, 1, 0.95 |
Condensation rate in MEA (s−1) | 100 |
Condensation rate in flow channel (s−1) | 5000 |
Phase change rate of membrane water and vapour (s−1) | 1.3, 1.3 |
Evaporation rate (s−1) | 100 |
Latent heat of water condensation (J mol−1) | 40,650 |
Entropy change (J mol−1 K−1) | 3255 |
Working current density (A m−2) | 16,000 |
Reference concentration (mol m−3) | H2: 56.4, O2: 3.39 |
Heat transfer coefficient | 9.0 |
Density of dry membrane (kg m−3) | 1980 |
Liquid water density (kg m−3) | 970 |
Volume fraction of ionomer in CL | 0.3 |
Equivalent weight of PEM (kg mol−1) | 1.1 |
Surface tension coefficient (N m −1) | 0.0625 |
Contact angle of interface between GDL and flow channel, flow channel and bipolar plate (°) | 120, 90 |
Air composition | 21% O2, 79% N2 |
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Liu, Z.; Sun, T.; Bai, F. Numerical Study on Effect of Flow Field Configuration on Air-Breathing Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Stacks. Energies 2024, 17, 2501. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17112501
Liu Z, Sun T, Bai F. Numerical Study on Effect of Flow Field Configuration on Air-Breathing Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Stacks. Energies. 2024; 17(11):2501. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17112501
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiu, Zhi, Tingting Sun, and Fuqiang Bai. 2024. "Numerical Study on Effect of Flow Field Configuration on Air-Breathing Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Stacks" Energies 17, no. 11: 2501. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17112501