An X-Ray Tomography Based Lattice Boltzmann Simulation Study on Gas Diffusion Layers of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pratap Rama ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Rui Chen ◽  
Hossein Ostadi ◽  
Kyle Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte ◽  
Lattice Boltzmann ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell ◽  
Absolute Permeability ◽  
Carbon Paper ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Microscale Transport

This work reports a feasibility study into the combined full morphological reconstruction of fuel cell structures using X-ray computed micro- and nanotomography and lattice Boltzmann modeling to simulate fluid flow at pore scale in porous materials. This work provides a description of how the two techniques have been adapted to simulate gas movement through a carbon paper gas diffusion layer (GDL). The validation work demonstrates that the difference between the simulated and measured absolute permeability of air is 3%. The current study elucidates the potential to enable improvements in GDL design, material composition, and cell design to be realized through a greater understanding of the nano- and microscale transport processes occurring within the polymer electrolyte fuel cell.

Investigation of Water Distribution in a Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Using X-Ray Imaging Technique

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung-Gon Kim ◽  
Sang-Joon Lee
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte ◽  
Water Distribution ◽  
Imaging Technique ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell ◽  
Gray Level ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Imaging

Water management in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) was experimentally investigated using an X-ray microscopy technique. Recently, fuel cell has been receiving large attention as an important renewable energy due to its efficiency, clearness and sustainability. Among various types of fuel cells, PEFC can be used as a power source of transport vehicles and home applications. In recent commercial development of PEFC, water management is one of the major problems to be solved. In fact, proper water management is vital to enhance performance and durability of PEFC. In this study, transport of water inside MEA (membrane electrode assembly) and GDL (gas diffusion layer) layers of an operating (in situ) fuel cell was observed using the synchrotron X-ray micro-imaging technique. As the synchrotron X-ray imaging technique has very high spatial and temporal resolutions, it is suitable for observing the dynamic movement and behavior of liquid layer and water distribution inside the PEFC. For this X-ray micro-imaging experiment, a single cell test kit of PEFC was specially designed for convenient capturing of X-ray images. Temporal variation of gray level in the PEFC components, such as MEA, GDL and endplate, was investigated with varying loading condition. As a result, X-ray images of the PEFC components were clearly distinguished by image pattern and gray level difference. The gray level shows roughly symmetric distribution with respect to MEA layer. The gray level at GDL decreases with lapse of time, indicating the increase of H2O concentration with time.

Micro-Scale Transport in the Diffusion Media of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Wang ◽  
Xuhui Feng ◽  
Ralf Thiedmann ◽  
Volker Schmidt ◽  
Werner Lehnert
Keyword(s):  
Polymer Electrolyte ◽  
Gas Flow ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell ◽  
Solid Matrix ◽  
Carbon Paper ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Pore Level

This paper reports our recent work on the stochastic-model-based reconstruction of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) of PEFCs and direct numerical simulation and presented the pore-level transport within GDLs of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). The carbon-paper-based GDL is modeled as a stack of thin sections with each section described by planar 2D random line tessellations which are further dilated to three dimensions. The reconstruction of the GDL structure is based on given GDL data provided by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. Based on the stochastically constructed digital GDL, we further conduct the DNS of the coupled transport processes, including gas flow and species transport, electronic current conduction, and heat transfer. Results indicate remarkable distinction in tortuosities of gas diffusion passage and solid matrix. The numerical tool can be applied to investigate the GDL microstructure and internal pore-level transport in PEFCs.

scholarly journals Transport Parameter Correlations for Digitally Created PEFC Gas Diffusion Layers by Using OpenPNM

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1141
Author(s):  
Ángel Encalada-Dávila ◽  
Mayken Espinoza-Andaluz ◽  
Julio Barzola-Monteses ◽  
Shian Li ◽  
Martin Andersson
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Transport Phenomena ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell ◽  
Carbon Paper ◽  
Transport Parameter ◽  
Transport Parameters ◽  
Depth Analysis

A polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is an electrochemical device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy and heat. The energy conversion is simple; however, the multiphysics phenomena involved in the energy conversion process must be analyzed in detail. The gas diffusion layer (GDL) provides a diffusion media for reactant gases and gives mechanical support to the fuel cell. It is a complex medium whose properties impact the fuel cell’s efficiency. Therefore, an in-depth analysis is required to improve its mechanical and physical properties. In the current study, several transport phenomena through three-dimensional digitally created GDLs have been analyzed. Once the porous microstructure is generated and the transport phenomena are mimicked, transport parameters related to the fluid flow and mass diffusion are computed. The GDLs are approximated to the carbon paper represented as a grouped package of carbon fibers. Several correlations, based on the fiber diameter, to predict their transport properties are proposed. The digitally created GDLs and the transport phenomena have been modeled using the open-source library named Open Pore Network Modeling (OpenPNM). The proposed correlations show a good fit with the obtained data with an R-square of approximately 0.98.

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