Two phase flow simulation in a channel of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell using the lattice Boltzmann method
Two phase flow simulation in a channel of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell using the lattice Boltzmann method
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jpowsour.2011.10.053
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发表时间：
2012-02
影响因子：
9.2
通讯作者：
Y. B. Salah;Yutaka Tabe;T. Chikahisa
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Y. B. Salah;Yutaka Tabe;T. Chikahisa
聚合物电解质膜（PEM）燃料电池的水管理对燃料电池的性能和耐久性至关重要。采用晶格玻尔兹曼方法（LBM）对PEM燃料电池气体通道中凝结水和气体流动的动力学行为进行了数值模拟。采用大密度差两相流方案，在不同的气通道高度、液滴初始位置、液滴体积和空气流速条件下，建立了疏水和亲水气通道的最佳气通道设计。从抽水效率和排水速度两个因素对最佳通道高度和排水性能进行了探讨。结果表明，较深的通道比较浅的通道具有更好的排液效率，但当液滴接触到角落或壁面顶部时，排液效率急剧下降。随着液滴流速（即排水流量）的增大，排水效率对液滴位置的依赖程度减小，通道越浅，排水效果越好。引入一个新的无量纲参数“抽气效率”，讨论了各参数对PEM燃料电池气体通道抽气性能的影响。
Water management in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells is important for fuel cell performance and durability. Numerical simulations using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) are developed to elucidate the dynamic behavior of condensed water and gas flows in a PEM fuel cell gas channel. A scheme for two-phase flow with large density differences was applied to establish the optimum gas channel design for different gas channel heights, droplet initial positions, droplet volume and air flow velocity for both hydrophobic and hydrophilic gas channels. The discussion of optimum channel height and drain performance was made using two factors “pumping efficiency” and “drainage speed”. It is shown that deeper channels give better draining efficiency than shallower channels, but the efficiency dramatically decreases when the droplet touches corners or the top of gas channel's walls. As the droplet velocity, i.e. the drainage flow rate becomes higher and the drainage efficiency becomes less dependent on droplet locations with shallower channels, shallower channels are better than deeper channels. Introducing a new dimensionless parameter, “pumping efficiency”, the investigation discusses the effect of the various parameters on the drainage performance of a PEM fuel cell gas channel.