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Peclet number analysis of cross-flow in porous gas diffusion layer of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)

  • Chemical, Energy and Environmental Engineering
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Abstract

Adoption of hydrogen economy by means of using hydrogen fuel cells is one possible solution for energy crisis and climate change issues. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell, which is an important type of fuel cells, suffers from the problem of water management. Cross-flow is induced in some flow field designs to enhance the water removal. The presence of cross-flow in the serpentine and interdigitated flow fields makes them more effective in proper distribution of the reactants on the reaction layer and evacuation of water from the reaction layer than diffusion-based conventional parallel flow fields. However, too much of cross-flow leads to flow maldistribution in the channels, higher pressure drop, and membrane dehydration. In this study, an attempt has been made to quantify the amount of cross-flow required for effective distribution of reactants and removal of water in the gas diffusion layer. Unit cells containing two adjacent channels with gas diffusion layer (GDL) and catalyst layer at the bottom have been considered for the parallel, interdigitated, and serpentine flow patterns. Computational fluid dynamics-based simulations are carried out to study the reactant transport in under-the-rib area with cross-flow in the GDL. A new criterion based on the Peclet number is presented as a quantitative measure of cross-flow in the GDL. The study shows that a cross-flow Peclet number of the order of 2 is required for effective removal of water from the GDL. Estimates show that this much of cross-flow is not usually produced in the U-bends of Serpentine flow fields, making these areas prone to flooding.

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Abbreviations

a, b:

Constants

CRl :

Linear resistance coefficient

df :

Fiber diameter, m

Dij eff :

Effective diffusivity of component i in component j, cm2 s−1

F:

Faraday’s constant, 96485 coulombs1 mole−1

I:

Current, A

K:

Permeability of the porous medium, m2

kCK :

Carman-Kozeny constant

Mi, Mj :

Molecular weight of the components i and j

ni :

Number of electrons transferred in the reaction

Nc :

Number of components in the mixture

p:

Pressure, atm

pc,i pc,j :

Pressure, atm

Pe:

Peclet number

Re:

Reynolds number

Si :

Source term for each species in the catalyst layer

SM :

Momentum source term

Sc:

Schmidth number

Tc,i Tcj :

Critical temperature, K

Ti :

Temperature of component i, K

V:

Velocity vector, m s−1

V:

Volume of the fluid mixture, m3

Vb,C, Vb,o :

Bulk volumes of the compressed and uncompressed samples, m3

Vp,c :

Pore volume of compressed GDL, m3

Yi :

Mass fraction of species i

ρ:

Density, kg m−3

<ρi>:

Material property of the component

α:

Physical property

µ:

Viscosity, kg m−1 s−1

Ɛ:

Porosity of the porous material

Ɛc, Ɛ0 :

Porosities of the compressed and uncompressed GDLs

δ:

Kronecker Delta

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

CL:

Catalyst layer

ECSSFF:

Enhanced cross flow split serpentine flow field

GDL:

Gas diffusion layer

IFF:

Interdigitated flow field

PEM:

Polymer electrolyte membrane

PEMFC:

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

PFF:

Parallel flow field

PTFE:

Polytetrafluoroethylene

SFF:

Serpentine flow field

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, NIT Warangal, Warangal, 506004, India

    P. V. Suresh

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, 600036, India

    Sreenivas Jayanti

Authors
  1. P. V. Suresh
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  2. Sreenivas Jayanti
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Correspondence to P. V. Suresh.

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Responsible editor: Angeles Blanco

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Suresh, P.V., Jayanti, S. Peclet number analysis of cross-flow in porous gas diffusion layer of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 20120–20130 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6629-x

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