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Dynamic Contact Angle Modeling of Droplet Reattachment at the Gas Channel Wall in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Andersson, M LU ; Beale, S.B. and Lehnert, W (2019) In eTransportation p.1-11
Abstract
Energy security, climate change and air pollution are all motivations for further development of fuel cells. Still, technical problems relating to water management, continue to hinder the marketability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). The impact of dynamic contact angle (CA) boundary conditions, according to the Kistler model, is evaluated in this paper with the VOF approach, focusing on droplet reattachment at the gas channel wall. From this, it is clear that dynamic CA boundary conditions, compared to static CA boundary conditions, significantly influence the droplet reattachment characteristics, for example for the standard case with a gas velocity of 10 m/s, the first droplet awaits attachment to the channel wall on the side... (More)
Energy security, climate change and air pollution are all motivations for further development of fuel cells. Still, technical problems relating to water management, continue to hinder the marketability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). The impact of dynamic contact angle (CA) boundary conditions, according to the Kistler model, is evaluated in this paper with the VOF approach, focusing on droplet reattachment at the gas channel wall. From this, it is clear that dynamic CA boundary conditions, compared to static CA boundary conditions, significantly influence the droplet reattachment characteristics, for example for the standard case with a gas velocity of 10 m/s, the first droplet awaits attachment to the channel wall on the side opposite the gas diffusion layer surface for a second droplet before merging and then moving out of the channel together, attached to the channel wall. The impact from dynamic CAs becomes even bigger for lower velocities (5 m/s in this case), where the droplet residence time increases significantly. It is clear that the channel dimensions, gas inlet velocity and value of CAs, as well as if a static or dynamic CA model is used, all have a significant impact on the droplet characteristics in PEFC GCs. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Dynamic contact angle, Modeling, Droplet reattachment, Polymer electrolyte fuel cell
in
eTransportation
pages
11 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85070554449
ISSN
2590-1168
DOI
10.1016/j.etran.2019.100003
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
27d76cd2-24b4-4ab7-a260-35c1667af555
date added to LUP
2019-08-17 21:08:07
date last changed
2022-07-12 20:17:02
@article{27d76cd2-24b4-4ab7-a260-35c1667af555,
  abstract     = {{Energy security, climate change and air pollution are all motivations for further development of fuel cells. Still, technical problems relating to water management, continue to hinder the marketability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). The impact of dynamic contact angle (CA) boundary conditions, according to the Kistler model, is evaluated in this paper with the VOF approach, focusing on droplet reattachment at the gas channel wall. From this, it is clear that dynamic CA boundary conditions, compared to static CA boundary conditions, significantly influence the droplet reattachment characteristics, for example for the standard case with a gas velocity of 10 m/s, the first droplet awaits attachment to the channel wall on the side opposite the gas diffusion layer surface for a second droplet before merging and then moving out of the channel together, attached to the channel wall. The impact from dynamic CAs becomes even bigger for lower velocities (5 m/s in this case), where the droplet residence time increases significantly. It is clear that the channel dimensions, gas inlet velocity and value of CAs, as well as if a static or dynamic CA model is used, all have a significant impact on the droplet characteristics in PEFC GCs.}},
  author       = {{Andersson, M and Beale, S.B. and Lehnert, W}},
  issn         = {{2590-1168}},
  keywords     = {{Dynamic contact angle; Modeling; Droplet reattachment; Polymer electrolyte fuel cell}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--11}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{eTransportation}},
  title        = {{Dynamic Contact Angle Modeling of Droplet Reattachment at the Gas Channel Wall in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.etran.2019.100003}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.etran.2019.100003}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}