Flow modelling, PEMFC

Grimm, M. Modeling gas flow in PEMFC channels Part 1—Flow pattern transitions and pressure drop in a simulated ex situ channel with uniform water injection through the GDL. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 37(17), 12489-12503, September 2012. 

The mathematical model of two-phase flow in PEMFC is often based on the multiphase mixture model (MMM) developed by Wang et al. (1996), Chang et al. (1996) and Wang et al. (1997). The key idea of this model is to focus not on the level of separate phases, but on the level of a multiphase mixture such as mass-averaged mixture velocity. Hence the model need not to track phase interface separating one from two-phase region. The developed formulation based on the MMM is as follows (Wang et al., 2001 and You et al., 2002). In GDL, continuity equation is... 

Fig. 2 Coordinate system for the mathematical model of two-phase flow in PEMFC.

W. Sun, B. A. Peppley, and K. Karan. Modeling the influence of GDL and flow-field plate parameters on the reaction distribution in the PEMFC cathode catalyst layer. Journal of Power Sources 144 (2005) 42-53. 

The dynamic model of a PEMFC can be realized in MATLAB and Simulink software for implementation in power systems [10]. Beginning with hydrogen flow, the three significant factors are input, output, and reaction flows during operahon [11]. The thermodynamic potential of the chemical energy that can be converted into electrical energy is derived from Nernst s law and is dependent on the partial pressures of the reactants and temperature. For reaction kinetic considerahon, overpotentials at both anode and cathode essentially constitute the energy required to drive a reaction beyond the state of thermodynamic reversibility. 

Sousa T, Mamlouk M, Scott K et al (2012) Three dimensional model of a high temperature PEMFC. Study of the flow field effect on performance. Fuel Cells 12 566-576... 

This chapter will focus on the modeling of MEA and its polymer electrolyte membrane. First, 3D modeling of PEMFC and its MEA will be discussed, and an example will be put forward. Then, dynamic modeling of PEM will be introduced. Further, this chapter will move on to the fault-embedded modeling of PEM. As an extension, application of membranes in other cases will be recommended, such as in lithium battery, vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB), chlor-alkali electrolysis, water electrolysis, and solar cell. Finally, several typical examples will be given, including Pt and Pt alloy simulation with density functional theory (DFT), water formation and Pt adsorption on carbon reactive force field (ReaxFF) simulation, and coarse-grained simulations. 

---