IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v138y2019icp842-851.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modeling and analysis of water droplet dynamics in the dead-ended anode gas channel for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Author

Listed:
  • Shao, Heng
  • Qiu, Diankai
  • Peng, Linfa
  • Yi, Peiyun
  • Lai, Xinmin

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells usually operate in dead-ended anode mode due to a comparatively simple system. Nevertheless, flooding in the anode channels in dead-ended mode is severe than that in flow-through configuration, which causes cell performance degradation and durability decrease. In this study, water droplet dynamics in the anode channel is investigated numerically using volume of fluid method to study water accumulation and drainage in the PEM fuel cell with the dead-ended anode. Simulations are divided into a dead-ended stage and a purge stage to study the two-phase flow behaviors. Impact of water accumulating volume is taken into consideration and, cases of different wettability of the gas diffusion layer surface and the bipolar plate surface are compared. The numerical results reveal that water droplets emerge from the water inlets and then accumulate and coalesce in the dead-ended stage. Most water droplets are drained out of the gas channel along the channel corners in the purge stage. It is found that larger water accumulating volume results in higher eliminating rate. The total purge time is mainly affected by the wettability of the bipolar plate surface.

Suggested Citation

  • Shao, Heng & Qiu, Diankai & Peng, Linfa & Yi, Peiyun & Lai, Xinmin, 2019. "Modeling and analysis of water droplet dynamics in the dead-ended anode gas channel for proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 842-851.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:138:y:2019:i:c:p:842-851
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.02.028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148119301727
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2019.02.028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peng, Linfa & Mai, Jianming & Hu, Peng & Lai, Xinmin & Lin, Zhongqin, 2011. "Optimum design of the slotted-interdigitated channels flow field for proton exchange membrane fuel cells with consideration of the gas diffusion layer intrusion," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1413-1420.
    2. Wan, Zhongmin & Liu, Jing & Luo, Zhiping & Tu, Zhengkai & Liu, Zhichun & Liu, Wei, 2013. "Evaluation of self-water-removal in a dead-ended proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 751-757.
    3. Soopee, Asif & Sasmito, Agus P. & Shamim, Tariq, 2019. "Water droplet dynamics in a dead-end anode proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 300-311.
    4. Yongxin Wang & Saher Al Shakhshir & Xianguo Li & Pu Chen, 2014. "Superhydrophobic flow channel surface and its impact on PEM fuel cell performance," International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 225-236.
    5. Niu, Zhiqiang & Bao, Zhiming & Wu, Jingtian & Wang, Yun & Jiao, Kui, 2018. "Two-phase flow in the mixed-wettability gas diffusion layer of proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 443-450.
    6. Ferreira, Rui B. & Falcão, D.S. & Oliveira, V.B. & Pinto, A.M.F.R., 2015. "Numerical simulations of two-phase flow in an anode gas channel of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 619-628.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Guo, Hang & Zhao, Qiang & Ye, Fang, 2022. "An experimental study on gas and liquid two-phase flow in orientated-type flow channels of proton exchange membrane fuel cells by using a side-view method," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 603-618.
    2. Yin, Yan & Li, Yu & Qin, Yanzhou & Li, Mengjie & Liu, Guokun & Zhang, Junfeng & Zhao, Jian, 2022. "Ex-situ experimental study on dynamic behaviors and detachment characteristics of liquid water in a transparent channel of PEMFC," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 1037-1049.
    3. Xu, Sheng & Yin, Bifeng & Li, Zekai & Dong, Fei, 2023. "A review on gas purge of proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Mechanisms, experimental approaches, numerical approaches, and optimization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Yuehua & Pei, Pucheng & Ma, Ze & Ren, Peng & Wu, Ziyao & Chen, Dongfang & Huang, Hao, 2019. "Characteristic analysis in lowering current density based on pressure drop for avoiding flooding in proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C), pages 321-329.
    2. Zhang, Caizhi & Zhang, Yuqi & Wang, Lei & Deng, Xiaozhi & Liu, Yang & Zhang, Jiujun, 2023. "A health management review of proton exchange membrane fuel cell for electric vehicles: Failure mechanisms, diagnosis techniques and mitigation measures," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    3. Soopee, Asif & Sasmito, Agus P. & Shamim, Tariq, 2019. "Water droplet dynamics in a dead-end anode proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 300-311.
    4. Chen, Ben & Wang, Jun & Yang, Tianqi & Cai, Yonghua & Zhang, Caizhi & Chan, Siew Hwa & Yu, Yi & Tu, Zhengkai, 2016. "Carbon corrosion and performance degradation mechanism in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with dead-ended anode and cathode," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 54-62.
    5. Chen, Ben & Ke, Wandi & Luo, Maji & Wang, Jun & Tu, Zhengkai & Pan, Mu & Zhang, Haining & Liu, Xiaowei & Liu, Wei, 2015. "Operation characteristics and carbon corrosion of PEMFC (Proton exchange membrane fuel cell) with dead-ended anode for high hydrogen utilization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 799-806.
    6. Guo, Hang & Liu, Xuan & Zhao, Jian Fu & Ye, Fang & Ma, Chong Fang, 2016. "Effect of low gravity on water removal inside proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with different flow channel configurations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 926-934.
    7. Wang, Yulin & Wang, Xiaodong & Wang, Xiaoai & Liu, Tao & Zhu, Tingting & Liu, Shengchun & Qin, Yanzhou, 2021. "Droplet dynamic characteristics on PEM fuel cell cathode gas diffusion layer with gradient pore size distribution," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 864-874.
    8. Abdin, Z. & Webb, C.J. & Gray, E.MacA., 2016. "PEM fuel cell model and simulation in Matlab–Simulink based on physical parameters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(P1), pages 1131-1144.
    9. Xia, Lingchao & Ni, Meng & He, Qijiao & Xu, Qidong & Cheng, Chun, 2021. "Optimization of gas diffusion layer in high temperature PEMFC with the focuses on thickness and porosity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    10. Guo, Hang & Liu, Xuan & Zhao, Jian Fu & Ye, Fang & Ma, Chong Fang, 2014. "Experimental study of two-phase flow in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell in short-term microgravity condition," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 509-518.
    11. Xing, Lei & Du, Shangfeng & Chen, Rui & Mamlouk, Mohamed & Scott, Keith, 2016. "Anode partial flooding modelling of proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Model development and validation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 80-95.
    12. Pan, Mingzhang & Pan, Chengjie & Li, Chao & Zhao, Jian, 2021. "A review of membranes in proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Transport phenomena, performance and durability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    13. Dashti, Isar & Asghari, Saeed & Goudarzi, Mohammad & Meyer, Quentin & Mehrabani-Zeinabad, Arjomand & Brett, Dan J.L., 2019. "Optimization of the performance, operation conditions and purge rate for a dead-ended anode proton exchange membrane fuel cell using an analytical model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 173-185.
    14. Tsai, Shang-Wen & Chen, Yong-Song, 2017. "A mathematical model to study the energy efficiency of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with a dead-ended anode," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 151-159.
    15. shi, Lei & Tang, Xingwang & Xu, Sichuan & Liu, Ze, 2024. "Numerical research on liquid water removal mechanism and the influence of pore structure on water removal rate based on real pore GDL structure during shutdown purge of fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    16. Qiu, Diankai & Peng, Linfa & Tang, Jiayu & Lai, Xinmin, 2020. "Numerical analysis of air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cells with various cathode flow channels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    17. Wong, A.K.C. & Ge, N. & Shrestha, P. & Liu, H. & Fahy, K. & Bazylak, A., 2019. "Polytetrafluoroethylene content in standalone microporous layers: Tradeoff between membrane hydration and mass transport losses in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 549-560.
    18. Wu, Horng-Wen, 2016. "A review of recent development: Transport and performance modeling of PEM fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 81-106.
    19. Wang, Bowen & Deng, Hao & Jiao, Kui, 2018. "Purge strategy optimization of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with anode recirculation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 1-13.
    20. Yang, Liu & Cao, Chenxi & Gan, Quanquan & Pei, Hao & Zhang, Qi & Li, Ping, 2022. "Revealing failure modes and effect of catalyst layer properties for PEM fuel cell cold start using an agglomerate model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:138:y:2019:i:c:p:842-851. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.