Efficient Numerical Methods for an Anisotropic, Nonisothermal, Two-Phase Transport Model of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

2012 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengtao Sun
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Numerical Methods ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Exchange Membrane ◽  
Phase Transport

An Effective Combined Finite Element-Upwind Finite Volume Method for a Transient Multiphysics Two-Phase Transport Model of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengtao Sun ◽  
Su Zhou ◽  
Qiya Hu
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Finite Volume Method ◽  
Finite Volume ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Volume Method ◽  
Exchange Membrane

In this paper, an effective combined finite element-upwind finite volume method is studied for a three-dimensional transient multiphysics transport model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), in which Navier–Stokes–Darcy coupling flow, species transports, heat transfer, electrochemical processes, and charge transports are fully considered. Multiphase mixture (M2) formulation is employed to define the involved two-phase model. Kirchhoff transformation is introduced to overcome the discontinuous and degenerate water diffusivity that is induced by the M2 model. By means of an adaptive time-stepping fourth-order multistep backward differencing formula (BDF), we design an effective temporal integration scheme to deal with the stiff phenomena arising from different time scales. In addition, all the governing equations are discretized by a combined finite element-upwind finite volume method to conquer the dominant convection effect in gas channels, while the diffusion and reaction effects are still dealt with by finite element method. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the presented techniques are effective to obtain a fast and convergent nonlinear iteration within a maximum 36 steps at each time step; in contrast to the oscillatory and nonconvergent iteration conducted by commercial CFD solvers and standard finite element/finite volume methods.

Two-Phase Transport in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Y. Wang ◽  
Z. H. Wang ◽  
Y. Pan
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Current Density ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Threshold Current ◽  
Threshold Current Density ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Air Cathode ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Exchange Membrane

Abstract Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells have emerged, in the last decade, as a viable technology for power generation and energy conversion. Fuel cell (FC) engines for vehicular applications possess many attributes such as high fuel efficiency, low emission, quiet and low temperature operation, and modularity. An important phenomenon limiting fuel cell performance is the two-phase flow and transport of fuel and oxidant from flow channels to reaction sites. In this paper a mathematical model is presented to study the two-phase flow dynamics, multi-component transport and electrochemical kinetics in the air cathode, the most important component of the hydrogen PEM fuel cell. A major feature of the present model is that it unifies single- and two-phase analyses for low and high current densities, respectively, and it is capable of predicting the threshold current density corresponding to the onset of liquid water formation in the air cathode. A numerical study based on the finite volume method is then undertaken to calculate the detailed distributions of local current density, oxygen concentration, water vapor concentration and liquid water saturation as well as their effects on the cell polarization curve. The simulated polarization curve and predicted threshold current density corresponding to the onset of liquid water formation for a single-channel, 5cm2 fuel cell compare favorably with experimental results. Quantitative comparisons with experiments presently being conducted at our laboratory will be reported in a forthcoming paper.

scholarly journals Modeling of two-phase transport in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells for hydrogen energy

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
pp. 4478-4489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Han ◽  
Jingke Mo ◽  
Zhenye Kang ◽  
Gaoqiang Yang ◽  
William Barnhill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Hydrogen Energy ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Exchange Membrane ◽  
Phase Transport
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