Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T02:34:27.844Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gas Transport Properties in Gas Diffusion Layers: A Lattice Boltzmann Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2015

Toshihisa Munekata ,
Takaji Inamuro  and
Shi-aki Hyodo
Toshihisa Munekata*
Affiliation:
Materials Design Laboratory, Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., Nagakute, Aichi 480-1192, Japan Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
Takaji Inamuro*
Affiliation:
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan Advanced Research Institute of Fluid Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
Shi-aki Hyodo*
Affiliation:
Materials Design Laboratory, Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., Nagakute, Aichi 480-1192, Japan
*
Corresponding author.Email:munekata@mosk.tytlabs.co.jp
Email:inamuro@kuaero.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Email:e0668@mosk.tytlabs.co.jp
Get access

Abstract

The lattice Boltzmann method is applied to the investigations of the diffusivity and the permeability in the gas diffusion layer (GDL) of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). The effects of the configuration of water droplets, the porosity of the GDL, the viscosity ratio of water to air, and the surface wettability of the GDL are investigated. From the simulations under the PEFC operating conditions, it is found that the heterogeneous water network and the high porosity improve the diffusivity and the permeability, and the hydrophobic surface decreases the permeability.

Keywords

76S0576R5076R0576M28Diffusivitypermeabilitylattice Boltzmann methodgas diffusion layer
Type
Research Article
Information
Communications in Computational Physics , Volume 9 , Issue 5 , May 2011 , pp. 1335 - 1346
Copyright
Copyright © Global Science Press Limited 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1]Mathias, M., Roth, J., Fleming, J., and Lehnert, W., Diffusion Media Materials and Characterisation, Handbook of Fuel Cells-Fundamentals, Technology and Applications, John Wiley & sons, Ltd., 2003.Google Scholar
[2]Ramirez, J. A., Mendoza, S. N., and Trejo, J. G., Calculation of the effective diffusivity of heterogeneous media using the lattice-Boltzmann method, Phys. Rev. E., 53 (1996), 2298–2303.Google Scholar
[3]Pan, C., Luo, L. S., and Miller, C. T., An evaluation of lattice Boltzmann schemes for porous medium flow simulation, Comput. Fluids., 35 (2006), 898–909.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[4]Nam, J. H., and Kaviany, M., Effective diffusivity and water-saturation distribution in sigle-and two-layer PEMFC diffusion medium, Int. J. Heat. Mass. Trans., 46 (2003), 4595–4611.Google Scholar
[5]Munekata, T., Inamuro, T., and Hyodo, S., On the applicability of the Leverett function to capillary pressure: a lattice Boltzmann study, JSME B., 75 (2009), 1568–1575.Google Scholar
[6]Kobayashi, K., Inamuro, T., and Ogino, F., Numerical simulation of advancing interface in a micro heterogeneous channel by the lattice Boltzmann method, J. Chem. Eng. Jap., 39 (2006), 257–266.Google Scholar
[7]Inamuro, T., Lattice Boltzmann methods for viscous fluid flows and for two-phase fluid flows, Fluid. Dyn. Res., 38 (2006), 641–659.Google Scholar
[8]Lee, T., and Lin, C. L., A stable discretization of the lattice Boltzmann equation for simulation of incompressible two-phase flows at high density ratio, J. Comput. Phys., 206 (2005), 16–47.Google Scholar
[9]Shan, X., and Chen, H., Lattice Boltzmann model for simulating flows with multiple phase and components, Phys. Rev. E., 47 (1993), 1815–1819.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
[10]Bear, J., Dynamics of Fluids in Porous Media, Dover Publications, Inc.,1972.Google Scholar
[11]D. d’Humières, , Ginzburg, I., Krafczyk, M., Lallemand, P., and Luo, L. S., Multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann models in three dimensions, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A., 360 (2002), 437–451.Google Scholar
[12]Ginzburg, I., and D. d’Humières, Multireflection boundary conditions for lattice Boltzmann models, Phys. Rev. E., 68 (2003), 066614.Google Scholar
[13]Zou, Q., Hou, S., Chen, S., and Doolen, G. D., An improved incompressible lattice Boltzmann model for time-independent flows, J. Stat. Phys., 81 (1995), 35–48.Google Scholar
[14]Bouzidi, M., Firdaouss, M., and Lallemand, P., Momentum transfer of a Boltzmann-lattice fluid with boundaries, Phys. Fluids., 13 (2001), 3452–3459.Google Scholar
[15]Zou, Q., and He, X., On pressure and velocity boundary conditions for the lattice Boltzmann model, Phys. Fluids., 9 (1997), 1591–1598.Google Scholar
[16]Yoshino, M., and Inamuro, T., Lattice Boltzmann simulations for flow and heat/mass transfer problems in a three-dimensional porous structure, Int. J. Numer. Methods. Fluids., 43 (2003), 183–198.Google Scholar
[17]Gelb, L. D., and Gubbins, K. K., Pore size distributions in porous glasses: a computer simulation study, Langmuir., 15 (1999), 305–308.Google Scholar