Impact of water drop presence on diffusion parameters of PEFC gas diffusion layers

Mayken Espinoza-Andaluz, Tingshuai Li, Martin Andersson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingPaper in conference proceedingpeer-review

Abstract

A polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) produces electrical energy thanks to the electrochemical reaction carried out inside the cell. During the energy conversion, water molecules are also produced in the cathode side and this can affect the diffusion parameters of the gas diffusion layers (GDLs). The generated water-drops due to the reaction may block the reactant gases and produce material oxidation. The mentioned phenomena influence the performance of the PEFCs. This paper aims to describe and quantify the impact on diffusion parameters of GDLs when the presence of formed water-drops inside the layer is considered. This study considers digitally generated GDLs, and the parameters considered are porosity, gas-phase tortuosity and diffusibility. The fluid flow behavior through the three-dimensional porous domain representing the GDL is obtained by using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Depending on the water-drop size, the impact over the mentioned parameters can be computed. For the current study, a single water-drop has been placed into the GDL domain and its impact has been analyzed.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEnergy Procedia
Pages1400-1405
Number of pages6
Volume158
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019 Jan 1
Event10th International Conference on Applied Energy, ICAE 2018 - Hong Kong, China
Duration: 2018 Aug 222018 Aug 25

Publication series

NameEnergy Procedia
PublisherElsevier
ISSN (Print)1876-6102

Conference

Conference10th International Conference on Applied Energy, ICAE 2018
Country/TerritoryChina
CityHong Kong
Period2018/08/222018/08/25

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Energy Engineering

Free keywords

  • Diffusibility
  • Gas diffusion layer
  • Gas-phase tortuosity
  • PEFC
  • Water-drops

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