Effects of Microstructure on Water Removal in the U-Shaped Region of PEMFC Serpentine Flow Channel
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 5
Abstract
The proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) bipolar plate serpentine flow channel U-shaped region is prone to the accumulation effect, which poses serious difficulties for fuel cell water management. As a result, a deep understanding of water transport in the U-shaped region is essential to improve the fuel cell performance. Under this direction, in this work, the impact of the different microstructure parameters and initial conditions on water transport in the U-shaped region was compared with and without microstructure using the volume of the fluid method. On top of that, the velocity field distribution in the -direction and the pressure drop distribution in the flow channel were also analyzed. From the acquired results, it was demonstrated that due to the secondary flow caused by the bending property of the microstructure, the droplet movement time in the U-shaped region was significantly shortened after the microstructure was added in the U-shaped region. The initial conditions strongly affected the droplet motion, and a larger contact angle enhanced the wall hydrophobicity to facilitate the droplet discharge. An increase in the droplet diameter led also to a rise in the windward area and shear force, which shortened droplet discharge time. Interestingly, if the waveform microstructure has too-large crests, gullies will be created that will impede the droplet motion and increase the amplitude of the droplet oscillation, resulting in excessive pressure drop in the flow channel. A too-large period led to increased droplet momentum loss, whereas a short period reduced the wall contact angle, which is not conducive to drainage. The microstructure spacing significantly affected the droplet motion, and the reduced spacing increased the airflow diffusion effect to accelerate the flow rate. The main focus of this work was led on the application of the microstructure in a U-shaped region of the serpentine flow channel, which is of great specific significance for droplet removal inside the flow channel.
Practical Applications
Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells have the advantages of high energy efficiency and low emissions. They can directly convert chemical energy into electrical energy and have broad application prospects in many fields. There is a key component in a fuel cell called a bipolar plate. On top of them, different flow channels are formed through processing, and droplet accumulation is prone to occur at the corners of these flow channels. Therefore, solving the accumulation phenomenon is an effective way to improve the performance of fuel cells. By adding a microstructure design on the wall of the flow channel to change the internal droplet transport, the function of the microstructure is to accelerate the droplet discharge from the flow channel and improve the performance of the fuel cell. Therefore, this study will introduce how the internal water transport in fuel cell flow channels is influenced by the wall microstructure.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51776089, Natural Science Research Projects in Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (18KJB470006), Zhenjiang Key R&D Program-Social Development (SH2020006), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Project (2019M651732), Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (SJCX21_1711), and State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy (KFY2227).
Author contributions: Hao Pei contributed to the conceptualization, methodology, and writing (original draft). Shuai Liu contributed to the visualization, investigation, and proofreading. Zhong Wang contributed to the supervision. Libin Zhang contributed to the software. Xiaohang Yao contributed to the validation.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 5 • October 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 18, 2022
Accepted: May 26, 2023
Published online: Jul 13, 2023
Published in print: Oct 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Dec 13, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Channel flow
- Continuum mechanics
- Dynamics (solid mechanics)
- Energy engineering
- Energy sources (by type)
- Engineering mechanics
- Flow (fluid dynamics)
- Fluid dynamics
- Fluid mechanics
- Hydrologic engineering
- Infrastructure
- Materials characterization
- Materials engineering
- Microstructure
- Motion (dynamics)
- Renewable energy
- Solid mechanics
- Urban and regional development
- Velocity distribution
- Water and water resources
- Water management
- Water supply
- Water supply systems
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