Numerical Simulation of a New Flow Field Design with Rib Grooves for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell with a Serpentine Flow Field
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Model Development
2.1. Model Geometry
2.2. Governing Equations
- (1)
- The porous media was isotropic and continuous;
- (2)
- The flow was assumed to be laminar inside the fuel cell due to the small Reynolds number in the flow field;
- (3)
- The fuel cells were insulated from the environment and worked at steady state conditions;
- (4)
- Reactant gases were ideal, incompressible, and had non-turbulent flow.
2.3. Model Verification
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Effect of Temperature
3.2. Effect of Rib Groove Designs
3.3. Distribution of Oxygen Concentration at the Cathode Side
3.4. Distribution of Water Vapor
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature
fluid density (kg/m3) | dynamic viscosity (Pa*s) | ||
fluid velocity in the porous medium (m/s) | porosity of GDL | ||
Laplace operator | effective permeability of GDL (m2) | ||
pressure (Pa) | fluid velocity in the flow field (m/s) | ||
exchange current density (A/m2) | cathode transfer coefficient | ||
reference exchange current density (A/m2) | activation over-potential (V) | ||
number of electrons transfer in the reaction | GDL thickness (m) | ||
absolute temperature (K) | universal gas constant | ||
reference oxygen concentration (mol/m3) | oxygen concentration (mol/m3) | ||
open circuit voltage (V) | Faraday constant | ||
operating voltage of the fuel cell (V) | limiting current density (A/m2) | ||
lumped resistance (Ω*m2) | effective diffusion coefficient |
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Parameter | Value | Units |
---|---|---|
Active area | 3.61 | cm2 |
Length of the flow field | 19 | mm |
Width of the flow field | 1 | mm |
Depth of the flow field | 1 | mm |
Width of the rib | 1 | mm |
Thickness of the GDL | 0.38 | mm |
Thickness of the CL | 0.05 | mm |
Thickness of the membrane | 0.1 | mm |
Width and depth of the rib grooves | 0.1 | mm |
Parameter | Value | Units |
---|---|---|
GDL porosity | 0.4 | _ |
GDL electric conductivity | 222 [31] | S/m |
Inlet O2 mass fraction (cathode) | 0.228 [31] | _ |
Inlet H2O mass fraction (cathode) | 0.023 [31] | _ |
Anode inlet flow velocity | 0.2 | m/s |
Cathode inlet flow velocity | 0.5 | m/s |
Anode viscosity | 1.19 × 10−5 [31] | Pa*s |
Cathode viscosity | 2.46 × 10−5 [31] | Pa*s |
Reference pressure | 1.01 × 105 | Pa |
Cell temperature | 433.15 | K |
Hydrogen reference concentration | 40.88 [31] | mol/m3 |
Oxygen reference concentration | 40.88 [31] | mol/m3 |
Membrane conductivity | 9.825 [32] | S/m |
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Luo, X.; Chen, S.; Xia, Z.; Zhang, X.; Yuan, W.; Wu, Y. Numerical Simulation of a New Flow Field Design with Rib Grooves for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell with a Serpentine Flow Field. Appl. Sci. 2019, 9, 4863. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9224863
Luo X, Chen S, Xia Z, Zhang X, Yuan W, Wu Y. Numerical Simulation of a New Flow Field Design with Rib Grooves for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell with a Serpentine Flow Field. Applied Sciences. 2019; 9(22):4863. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9224863
Chicago/Turabian StyleLuo, Xin, Shizhong Chen, Zhongxian Xia, Xuyang Zhang, Wei Yuan, and Yuhou Wu. 2019. "Numerical Simulation of a New Flow Field Design with Rib Grooves for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell with a Serpentine Flow Field" Applied Sciences 9, no. 22: 4863. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9224863