Navier heat transfer simulations

As far as convective heat transfer is concerned, liquid and gaseous flows musf be considered separately. Liquid flow has been investigated experimentally, whereas analytical, numerical and molecular simulation techniques have been applied to understand the characteristics of gaseous flow and heat transfer. While the Navier-Stokes equations can still be applied, due to the small size of microchannels, some deviations from the conventionally sized applications have been observed. Flow regime boundaries are significantly different, as well as flow and heat transfer characteristics. 

With the increased computational power of today s computers, more detailed simulations are possible. Thus, complex equations such as the Navier—Stokes equation can be solved in multiple dimensions, yielding accurate descriptions of such phenomena as heat and mass transfer and fluid and two-phase flow throughout the fuel cell. The type of models that do this analysis are based on a finite-element framework and are termed CFD models. CFD models are widely available through commercial packages, some of which include an electrochemistry module. As mentioned above, almost all of the CFD models are based on the Bernardi and Verbrugge model. That is to say that the incorporated electrochemical effects stem from their equations, such as their kinetic source terms in the catalyst layers and the use of Schlogl s equation for water transport in the membrane. 

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