Univ. of California, Merced, CA (United States); Foshan Xianhu Laboratory of the Advanced Energy Science and Technology (China). Guangdong Laboratory; Wuhan Univ. of Technology (China)
Liquid water in porous media hinders the transport of reactant to catalyst layer, where the electrochemical reactions occur, which in turn, reduces performance and lifetime of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In this study, two types of gas diffusion layer (GDL) materials are used to study the two-phase saturation distribution in a PEMFC. The correlations between the effective and anisotropic transport properties and porosity of the two GDLs are solved by the pore scale model. In addition, the anisotropic liquid water permeability and the relationship between saturation pressure and capillary pressure is determined by using the Lattice-Boltzmann method. Fuel cell performance as well as liquid water distribution in the GDL using neutron radiography are obtained for validation. Under wet conditions, the cell with Freudenberg GDL performs better than that using Toray GDL, especially at high current densities. The results of the two-phase model simulation show that the peak water saturation for Toray GDL occurs in the catalyst layer and can reach 40%, while the peak water saturation for Freudenberg GDL occurs inside the GDL directly under the ribs and only reaches 25% saturation. The combined results provide key insights to enable high power density operation of a PEMFC through GDL material optimization.
Zhang, Heng, et al. "Numerical investigation and experimental validation of water condensation in the gas diffusion layer with different properties." Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 402, no. C, Mar. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136792
Zhang, Heng, Sarker, Mrittunjoy, Rahman, Md Azimur, Zhan, Zhigang, Sui, Pang-Chieh, & Chuang, Po-Ya Abel (2023). Numerical investigation and experimental validation of water condensation in the gas diffusion layer with different properties. Journal of Cleaner Production, 402(C). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136792
Zhang, Heng, Sarker, Mrittunjoy, Rahman, Md Azimur, et al., "Numerical investigation and experimental validation of water condensation in the gas diffusion layer with different properties," Journal of Cleaner Production 402, no. C (2023), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136792
@article{osti_2422615,
author = {Zhang, Heng and Sarker, Mrittunjoy and Rahman, Md Azimur and Zhan, Zhigang and Sui, Pang-Chieh and Chuang, Po-Ya Abel},
title = {Numerical investigation and experimental validation of water condensation in the gas diffusion layer with different properties},
annote = {Liquid water in porous media hinders the transport of reactant to catalyst layer, where the electrochemical reactions occur, which in turn, reduces performance and lifetime of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In this study, two types of gas diffusion layer (GDL) materials are used to study the two-phase saturation distribution in a PEMFC. The correlations between the effective and anisotropic transport properties and porosity of the two GDLs are solved by the pore scale model. In addition, the anisotropic liquid water permeability and the relationship between saturation pressure and capillary pressure is determined by using the Lattice-Boltzmann method. Fuel cell performance as well as liquid water distribution in the GDL using neutron radiography are obtained for validation. Under wet conditions, the cell with Freudenberg GDL performs better than that using Toray GDL, especially at high current densities. The results of the two-phase model simulation show that the peak water saturation for Toray GDL occurs in the catalyst layer and can reach 40%, while the peak water saturation for Freudenberg GDL occurs inside the GDL directly under the ribs and only reaches 25% saturation. The combined results provide key insights to enable high power density operation of a PEMFC through GDL material optimization.},
doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136792},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2422615},
journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production},
issn = {ISSN 0959-6526},
number = {C},
volume = {402},
place = {United States},
publisher = {Elsevier},
year = {2023},
month = {03}}
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 542, Issue 1-3https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2005.01.090