Interaction between Liquid Droplet Growth and Two-Phase Pressure Drop in PEM Fuel Cell Flow Channels

Abstract

-In this paper, liquid-gas two-phase flow pressure drop in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is studied in an exsitu experimental setup. The two-phase flow pressure drop is measured during liquid water droplet emergence and growth on the surface of the gas diffusion layer (GDL). The two-phase flow pressure measurement is synchronized with a high speed camera that records droplet emergence and growth. Simultaneous study of droplet size and liquid-gas two-phase flow pressure drop reveals useful information which can be utilized in analyzing existing two-phase flow pressure drop models.