Review on microstructure modelling of a gas diffusion layer for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Fadzillah, Dahiyah Mohd; Rosli, Masli Irwan; Talib, Meor Zainal Meor; Kamarudin, Siti Kartom; Daud, Wan Ramli Wan

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.235

Cited by 100 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…Multiphase flow through porous media has a crucial importance in applications as diverse as groundwater resources [1][2][3], geothermal fields [4], chemical transport [5][6][7], gas diffusion in fuel cells [8], oil recovery [9], environmental remediation [10], and CO 2 sequestration [11]. The most important macroscopic parameters that describe multiphase flow through porous media are capillary pressure (P c ) and relative permeability (k r ) [9,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pore-by-pore modeling, analysis, and prediction of two-phase flow in mixed-wet rocks

et al. 2020

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A pore-network model is an upscaled representation of the pore space and fluid displacement, which is used to simulate two-phase flow through porous media. We use the results of pore-scale imaging experiments to calibrate and validate our simulations, and specifically to find the pore-scale distribution of wettability. We employ energy balance to estimate an average, thermodynamic, contact angle in the model, which is used as the initial estimate of contact angle. We then adjust the contact angle of each pore to match the observed fluid configurations in the experiment as a nonlinear inverse problem. The proposed algorithm is implemented on two sets of steady state micro-computed-tomography experiments for water-wet and mixed-wet Bentheimer sandstone. As a result of the optimization, the pore-by-pore error between the model and experiment is decreased to less than that observed between repeat experiments on the same rock sample. After calibration and matching, the model predictions for capillary pressure and relative permeability are in good agreement with the experiments. The proposed algorithm leads to a distribution of contact angle around the thermodynamic contact angle. We show that the contact angle is spatially correlated over around 4 pore lengths, while larger pores tend to be more oil-wet. Using randomly assigned distributions of contact angle in the model results in poor predictions of relative permeability and capillary pressure, particularly for the mixed-wet case.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pore-by-pore modeling, analysis, and prediction of two-phase flow in mixed-wet rocks

et al. 2020

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“…Due to the wetting nature of the binder and the fact that it usually accumulates at fiber intersection and fills the small pores, image processing techniques can be used. Thus, applying morphological operations of image processing is a promising method for binder addition , .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microstructure Reconstruction and Characterization of the Porous GDLs for PEMFC Based on Fibers Orientation Distribution

2018

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The 3D microstructure of the gas diffusion layers (GDLs) is generated, using a stochastic reconstruction approach. The method uses basic input parameters and fibers orientation distribution and is capable to model carbon fiber and binder phases of all types of carbon fiber GDLs with different structural parameters. Morphological operators of image processing are used to add the binder to the fibrous skeleton in three dimensions. Binder impregnation, pore size distribution and tortuosity factor of the reconstructed GDL are evaluated and compared with literature. Twenty and forty percentages of binder volume fraction are used to reconstruct the microstructure. To further investigate the reliability of our approach, mass transport properties of the reconstructed microstructure, namely absolute permeability, effective diffusivity of the pore space and effective thermal conductivity, are investigated through a finite volume equation solver in AVIZO. Only 4% of discrepancy between the absolute permeability calculation and the value reported by the manufacturer is observed in the through‐plane direction. Finally, in order to show the flexibility of the methodology the microstructure of a commercial Toray GDL is also reconstructed and characterized. The proposed method is proved to be a high‐speed and versatile tool for research and development in the GDL material design.

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“…Two main methods are used to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) structures of porous electrodes [11]: The first is the X-CT method [12][13][14][15] which can penetrate non-transparent solid objects to visualize interior features nondestructively. This method obtains digital information of 3D geometries and properties by stacking all contiguous sets of CT slices.…”

Section: X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ct) Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-Phase Flow in Porous Electrodes of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Jiao

2020

Trans. Tianjin Univ.

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Water management in porous electrodes bears significance due to its strong potential in determining the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell. In terms of porous electrodes, internal water distribution and removal process have extensively attracted attention in both experimental and numerical studies. However, the structural difference among the catalyst layer (CL), microporous layer (MPL), and gas diffusion layer (GDL) leads to significant challenges in studying the two-phase flow behavior. Given the different porosities and pore scales of the CL, MPL, and GDL, the model scales in simulating each component are inconsistent. This review emphasizes the numerical simulation related to porous electrodes in the water transport process and evaluates the effectiveness and weakness of the conventional methods used during the investigation. The limitations of existing models include the following: (i) The reconstruction of geometric models is difficult to achieve when using the real characteristics of the components; (ii) the computational domain size is limited due to massive computational loads in three-dimensional (3D) simulations; (iii) numerical associations among 3D models are lacking because of the separate studies for each component; (iv) the effects of vapor condensation and heat transfer on the two-phase flow are disregarded; (v) compressive deformation during assembly and vibration in road conditions should be considered in two-phase flow studies given the real operating conditions. Therefore, this review is aimed at critical research gaps which need further investigation. Insightful potential research directions are also suggested for future improvements.

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Review on microstructure modelling of a gas diffusion layer for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Cited by 100 publications

References 99 publications

Pore-by-pore modeling, analysis, and prediction of two-phase flow in mixed-wet rocks

Pore-by-pore modeling, analysis, and prediction of two-phase flow in mixed-wet rocks

Microstructure Reconstruction and Characterization of the Porous GDLs for PEMFC Based on Fibers Orientation Distribution

Two-Phase Flow in Porous Electrodes of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

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