Numerical studies of liquid water behaviors in PEM fuel cell cathode considering transport across different porous layers

Abstract In this paper, a two-phase two-dimensional PEM fuel cell model, which is capable of handling liquid water transport across different porous materials, is employed for parametric studies of liquid water transport and distribution in the cathode of a PEM fuel cell. Attention is paid particularly to the coupled effects of two-phase flow and heat transfer phenomena. The effects of key operation parameters, including the outside cell boundary temperature, the cathode gas humidification condition, and the cell operation current, on the liquid water behaviors and cell performance have been examined in detail. Numerical results elucidate that increasing the fuel cell temperature would not only enhance liquid water evaporation and thus decrease the liquid saturation inside the PEM fuel cell cathode, but also change the location where liquid water is condensed or evaporated. At a cell boundary temperature of 80 °C, liquid water inside the catalyst layer and gas diffusion media under the current-collecting land would flow laterally towards the gas channel and become evaporated along an interface separating the land and channel. As the cell boundary temperature increases, the maximum current density inside the membrane would shift laterally towards the current-collecting land, a phenomenon dictated by membrane hydration. Increasing the gas humidification condition in the cathode gas channel and/or increasing the operating current of the fuel cell could offset the temperature effect on liquid water transport and distribution.

[1]  N. Djilali,et al.  Effect of compression on liquid water transport and microstructure of PEMFC gas diffusion layers , 2007 .

[2]  Thomas A. Trabold,et al.  Neutron images of the through-plane water distribution of an operating PEM fuel cell , 2007 .

[3]  Chao-Yang Wang,et al.  A Nonisothermal, Two-Phase Model for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells , 2006 .

[4]  Xianguo Li,et al.  On the modeling of water transport in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells , 2009 .

[5]  Chao-Yang Wang,et al.  Quantification of Liquid Water Saturation in a PEM Fuel Cell Diffusion Medium Using X-ray Microtomography , 2006 .

[6]  Hua Meng,et al.  A two-phase non-isothermal mixed-domain PEM fuel cell model and its application to two-dimensional simulations , 2007 .

[7]  Z. H. Wang,et al.  Two-phase flow and transport in the air cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells , 2000 .

[8]  Jin Hyun Nam,et al.  Effective diffusivity and water-saturation distribution in single- and two-layer PEMFC diffusion medium , 2003 .

[9]  Aimy Bazylak,et al.  Liquid water visualization in PEM fuel cells: A review , 2009 .

[10]  Suresh G. Advani,et al.  Experimental investigation of liquid water formation and transport in a transparent single-serpentine PEM fuel cell , 2007 .

[11]  Xianguo Li,et al.  Non-isothermal transient modeling of water transport in PEM fuel cells , 2007 .

[12]  Akeel A. Shah,et al.  Transient non-isothermal model of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell , 2007 .

[13]  Hua Meng,et al.  A three-dimensional PEM fuel cell model with consistent treatment of water transport in MEA , 2006 .

[14]  Yun Wang,et al.  Modeling of two-phase transport in the diffusion media of polymer electrolyte fuel cells , 2008 .

[15]  C. Hebling,et al.  Visualization of water buildup in the cathode of a transparent PEM fuel cell , 2003 .

[16]  Chao-Yang Wang,et al.  Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells , 2000 .

[17]  Chao-Yang Wang,et al.  Electron Transport in PEFCs , 2004 .

[18]  Hyunchul Ju,et al.  A single-phase, non-isothermal model for PEM fuel cells , 2005 .

[19]  Sirivatch Shimpalee,et al.  Predicting water and current distributions in a commercial-size PEMFC , 2004 .

[20]  Biao Zhou,et al.  Effects of electrode wettabilities on liquid water behaviours in PEM fuel cell cathode , 2008 .

[21]  Wei Jiang,et al.  Parameter sensitivity examination and discussion of PEM fuel cell simulation model validation. Part I. Current status of modeling research and model development , 2006 .

[22]  Hyunchul Ju,et al.  Analyzing the effects of immobile liquid saturation and spatial wettability variation on liquid water transport in diffusion media of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) , 2008 .

[23]  Jack S. Brenizer,et al.  Quantification of liquid water accumulation and distribution in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell using neutron imaging , 2006 .

[24]  Nathan P. Siegel,et al.  In Situ High-Resolution Neutron Radiography of Cross-Sectional Liquid Water Profiles in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells , 2008 .

[25]  Chao-Yang Wang,et al.  Two-phase transport and the role of micro-porous layer in polymer electrolyte fuel cells , 2004 .

[26]  Chao-Yang Wang,et al.  Model of Two-Phase Flow and Flooding Dynamics in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells , 2005 .

[27]  Adam Z. Weber,et al.  Modeling and High-Resolution-Imaging Studies of Water-Content Profiles in a Polymer-Electrolyte-Fuel-Cell Membrane-Electrode Assembly , 2008 .

[28]  Chaoyang Wang,et al.  Probing Liquid Water Saturation in Diffusion Media of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells , 2007 .

[29]  Duu-Jong Lee,et al.  Determination of the optimal active area for proton exchange membrane fuel cells with parallel, interdigitated or serpentine designs , 2009 .

[30]  H. Meng.  Numerical investigation of transient responses of a PEM fuel cell using a two-phase non-isothermal mixed-domain model , 2007 .

[31]  Shohji Tsushima,et al.  Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Water Distribution within a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane in Fuel Cells , 2004 .

[32]  J. Adin Mann,et al.  Two-Phase Transport in PEM Fuel Cell Cathodes , 2008 .

[33]  Hua Meng,et al.  Multi-dimensional liquid water transport in the cathode of a PEM fuel cell with consideration of the micro-porous layer (MPL) , 2009 .

[34]  H. Meng.  A three-dimensional mixed-domain PEM fuel cell model with fully-coupled transport phenomena , 2007 .

[35]  Hongtan Liu,et al.  A two-phase flow and transport model for the cathode of PEM fuel cells , 2002 .

[36]  Ned Djilali,et al.  A 3D, Multiphase, Multicomponent Model of the Cathode and Anode of a PEM Fuel Cell , 2003 .

[37]  Werner Lehnert,et al.  Investigation of water evolution and transport in fuel cells with high resolution synchrotron x-ray radiography , 2007 .

[38]  Nathan P. Siegel,et al.  A two-dimensional computational model of a PEMFC with liquid water transport , 2004 .

[39]  T. Nguyen,et al.  Two-phase flow model of the cathode of PEM fuel cells using interdigitated flow fields , 2000 .