Computer simulation methodology to analyze mass, momentum, energy and charge transport in a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell
A method analyzes physical transport in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) having three adjacent layers L 1 , L 2 , L 3 , each with a distinct porous structure. A first small scale multiphase simulation S 1 of a first portion of the L 1 /L 2 interface is used to characterize the L 1 /L 2 interface. The S 1 results are statistically extended to a larger second portion of the L 1 /L 2 interface. The statistically extended L 1 /L 2 interface is used as a boundary condition for a second multiphase simulation S 2 to characterize the L 2 /L 3 interface. S 1 is repeated using the characterized L 2 /L 3 interface as a boundary condition. S 1 and S 2 respectively simulate of one or more of momentum, energy, species, and charge transport across the L 1 /L 2 and L 2 /L 3 interface.
1 . A computer based method to analyze mass, momentum, energy and charge transport in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) via a computer simulation of the PEMFC to address water management in a physical PEMFC comprising a plurality adjacent layers comprising a first layer L 1 , a third layer L 3 , and a second layer L 2 disposed between the first layer L 1 and the third layer L 3 , a first interface L 1 /L 2 between L 1 and L 2 , a second interface L 2 /L 3 between L 2 and L 3 , each layer comprising a material having a porosity scale or non-porous structure distinct from each adjacent layer, the method comprising the steps of:
performing a first small scale multiphase simulation S 1 of the first interface for a first portion of the first interface;
characterizing the first interface after the first small scale multiphase simulation S 1 ;
statistically extending S 1 results for the first interface to a second portion of the first interface with a larger area that the first portion;
performing a second multiphase simulation S 2 for the second interface using the statistically extended first interface as characterized by the first small scale multiphase simulation S 1 as a boundary condition;
characterizing the second interface after the second small scale multiphase simulation S 2 ; and
repeating the first small scale multiphase simulation S 1 using the second interface characterized by the second small scale multiphase simulation S 2 as a boundary condition,
wherein the multiphase simulations S 1 and S 2 each comprise simulation of one or more of the group consisting of momentum, energy, species, and charge transport across the interface between the simulated layers L 1 /L 2 and L 2 /L 3 , respectively.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of iterating the S 1 and S 2 simulations until the first interface characterization has converged according to a predetermined convergence criteria.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second multiphase simulation S 2 is a larger scale simulation than the S 1 simulation.
4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the third layer L 3 comprises a bipolar plate (BP) formed of a non-porous material further comprising a channel configured to convey gas and/or fluid.
5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising the step of statistically extending the converged second interface to cover the entire bipolar plate.
6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the second layer L 2 comprises a gas diffusion layers (GDL), and the second interface L 2 /L 3 comprises a GDL/BP interface.
7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising the step of performing a multiphase simulation with only the bipolar plate using extended GDL/BP interface as boundary condition.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein L 1 has a finer pore structure than L 2 .
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein for the S 1 simulation L 1 is simulated at a representative elementary volume (REV) while only a fraction of L 2 is captured.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of forming the physical PEMFC according to the first interface characterization and the second interface characterization.