Numerical study on droplet transport behavior in the serpentine flow channel of PEMFC

doi:10.11949/0438-1157.20240249

Abstract

Abstract:

Water management is an important method to improve the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In order to solve the problem of cathode channel“flooding”in fuel cells, it is necessary to clarify the motion laws of droplets in different channel structures to find ways to accelerate droplet discharge. In this paper, two-phase numerical simulation is used to simulate and analyze the motion behaviors of droplets with different sizes, initial positions and quantities in two types of serpentine flow channel structures, focusing on the main factors affecting the droplet discharge time and droplet motion behaviors. The results show that the droplet size and the contact mode with the curved part greatly affect the droplet motion attitude and discharge time, the larger the droplet diameter, the shorter the discharge time, and the increase of the diameter effectively accelerates the inner droplet discharge. At the same time, compared with the rounded bend structure of the runner, the semicircular bend structure of the runner is more conducive to the discharge of the droplets.

Key words: PEMFC, serpentine flow channel, droplet dynamics, rounded-corner curved flow channel, semicircular curved flow channel

摘要：

水管理是提升质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）工作性能的重要手段，为了解决燃料电池阴极流道“水淹”的问题，需要明晰液滴在不同流道结构中的运动规律以寻找加速液滴排离的方法。采用两相数值模拟方法对不同尺寸（直径0.6～0.8 mm）、不同初始位置及不同数量（1～2个）的液滴在两种流道结构中的运动行为进行了仿真分析，重点关注影响液滴排出时间和液滴运动形态的主要影响因素。结果表明，液滴的尺寸及与弯道部分的接触方式极大地影响了液滴的运动姿态及排出时间，液滴直径越大排出时间越短，直径的增大有效加速了内侧液滴的排出；同时，与圆角弯道结构的流道相比，半圆形弯管结构的流道更有利于液滴的排出。

关键词: 质子交换膜燃料电池, 蛇形流道, 液滴运动, 圆角弯管, 半圆形弯管

CLC Number:

TK 124

Senyang CHEN, Puhang JIN, Zhiming TAN, Gongnan XIE. Numerical study on droplet transport behavior in the serpentine flow channel of PEMFC[J]. CIESC Journal, 2024, 75(S1): 183-194.

陈森洋, 靳蒲航, 谭志明, 谢公南. 质子交换膜燃料电池中蛇形流道液滴运动数值仿真研究[J]. 化工学报, 2024, 75(S1): 183-194.

Figures/Tables 15

Fig.1 Model A and model B

Table 1 Statistics of droplet discharge time in models with different units

网格数量/个	排出时间/s
10×10⁴	0.0178
22×10⁴	0.0210
41×10⁴	0.0205

Table 2 Droplet discharge time in models with different Courant numbers

库仑数	排出时间/s
1	0.0208
2	0.0210
3	0.0211

Fig.2 Single droplet simulation conditions and discharge time

Table 3 Single droplet simulation conditions and discharge time

组别	模型	入口流速/(m/s)	液滴直径/mm	初始位置	排出时间/s
1	A	6	0.6	内侧	0.0796
2	A	6	0.6	外侧	0.0613
3	A	6	0.7	内侧	0.0311
4	A	6	0.7	外侧	0.0290
5	A	6	0.8	内侧	0.0215
6	A	6	0.8	外侧	0.0237
7	B	6	0.6	内侧	0.0815
8	B	6	0.6	外侧	0.0683
9	B	6	0.7	内侧	0.0233
10	B	6	0.7	外侧	0.0295
11	B	6	0.8	内侧	0.0222
12	B	6	0.8	外侧	0.0210

Table 4 Comparison of droplet movement time and position between this work and the Ref.［25］

X轴位置/mm	文献[25]运动时间/ms	本文模型运动时间/ms
0	1.000	1.000
4.0	2.290	2.289
6.0	3.859	3.664
10.0	7.985	7.546
12.0	10.403	9.940

Fig.3 Droplet motion attitude at different moments for groups 1 and 2 (0.6 mm droplet in model A at inner/outer side)

Fig.4 Droplet motion attitude at different moments for groups 7 and 8 (0.6 mm droplet in model A at inner/outer side)

Fig.5 Droplet motion attitude at different moments for groups 3 and 4 (0.7 mm droplet in model A at inner/outer side)

Fig.6 Droplet motion attitude at different moments for groups 5 and 6 (0.8 mm droplet in model A at inner/outer side)

Fig.7 Droplet motion attitude at different moments for groups 9 and 10 (0.7 mm droplet in model B at inner/outer side)

Fig.8 Droplet motion attitude at different moments for groups 11 and 12 (0.8 mm droplet in model B at inner/outer side)

Table 5 Double droplets simulation conditions and discharge time

组别	模型	入口流速/(m/s)	液滴直径/mm	初始位置	排出时间/s
13	A	6	0.4	均位于内侧	0.1287
14	A	6	0.4	均位于外侧	停驻
15	A	6	0.4	内侧-外侧	部分停驻
16	B	6	0.4	均位于内侧	0.0722
17	B	6	0.4	均位于外侧	0.0506
18	B	6	0.4	内侧-外侧	0.1057

Fig.9 Droplets in group 14 stops at the “dead zone”

Fig.10 Remaining droplets in model B

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