CFD modeling and simulation of PEM fuel cell using OpenFOAM

Kone, Jean-Paul; Zhang, Xinyu; Yan, Yuying; Hu, Guilin; Ahmadi, Goodarz

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2018.04.011

Cited by 30 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The work presented in this paper extends the 3-D, non-isothermal, and single-phase flow model for a PEM fuel cell previously introduced (Kone et al, 2017a), to include liquid water formation, transport, and their effects in the fuel cell. The toolbox developed follows the same structure and organisation as OpenFOAM, as shown in Figure 5.…”

Section: Overview Of the Toolboxmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The work aims at filling the research knowledge gap in comprehensive open-source modelling approaches for PEM fuel cells. The model developed is an extension of an existing 3-D non-isothermal single-phase flow model introduced in a previous work (Kone, Zhang, Yan, Hu, & Ahmadi, 2017a) to include liquid water formation, transport, and their effects in PEM fuel cells. The moisture diffusion approach of multiphase flow modelling in a PEM fuel cell based on the unsaturated theory as described elsewhere (Kone et al, 2017b) has been adopted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As for the mixture quantities, these are calculated according to the multiphase mixture model (Kone et al, 2017b). Like the previous model (Kone et al, 2017a), the present model has been developed using OpenFOAM version 4.0.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Open-Source Toolbox for Multiphase Flow Simulation in a PEM Fuel Cell

Kone¹,

Zhang²,

Yan³

et al. 2018

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A proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is an electrolytic cell that can convert chemical energy of hydrogen reacting with oxygen into electrical energy with no greenhouse gases generated in the process. To satisfy increasingly demanding application needs, providing fuel cells with better performance and higher efficiency are of paramount importance. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is an ideal method for fuel cell design optimization. In this paper, a comprehensive CFD-based numerical tool that can accurately simulate multiphase flow and the major transport phenomena occurring in a PEM fuel cell is presented. The tool is developed using the Open Source Field Operation and Manipulation (OpenFOAM) software (a free open-source CFD code). This makes it flexible and suitable for use by fuel cell manufacturers and researchers to get an in-depth understanding of the cell working processes to optimize the design. The distributions of velocity, pressure, chemical species, Nernst potential, current density, and temperature at case study conditions are as expected. The polarization curve follows the same trend as those of the I-V curves from numerical model and experimental data taken from the literature. Furthermore, a parametric study showed thekey role played by the concentration constant in shaping the cell polarization curve. The developed toolbox is well-suited for research and development which is not always the case with commercial code. The work therefore contributes to achieving the objectives outlined in the International Energy Agency (IEA) Advanced Fuel Cell Annex 37 which promotes open-source code modelling of fuel cells. The source code can be accessed athttp://dx.doi.org/10.17632/c743sh73j8.1.

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Section: Overview Of the Toolboxmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Open-Source Toolbox for Multiphase Flow Simulation in a PEM Fuel Cell

Kone¹,

Zhang²,

Yan³

et al. 2018

CIS

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“…Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), a simulation tool used for modeling the fluid‐flow based on solving governing flow equations, has been widely used for simulating flow distribution profile . Three‐dimensional computational fluid dynamics combined with electrochemical models helps to understand the physical processes occurring in PEM fuel cells and thus, reduce the time and costs dramatically.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Development of Open Cathode PEM Fuel Cell – Flow Analysis Optimization by CFD

2020

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Air‐cooled polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have emerged as a potential power generation source, due to its simple construction and operation. Flow‐field designing for the efficient distribution of reactants is of paramount importance in air‐cooled PEM fuel cells. The requirement of flow fields with uniform distribution amounting to minimal pressure drop across the flow area is necessary for high gas utilization and easy removal of water. Thus, the present work deals with the design of land and pillar flow field type for cathode, and further optimization of its flow pattern. A 3‐D computational fluid dynamics analysis tool for modeling fluid flow was used for simulating the reactant distribution profile and finalizing the flow field design. The effect of flow field design, inlet velocity and inlet ports dimension were studied in order to obtain flow pattern with uniform distribution. The optimized configuration showed higher percentage of flow area (76%) with outlet velocities ranging from 3.0–5.5 m s−1 in relation to inlet velocity of 4.4 m s−1. From the results it was inferred that, with the increase of air inlet velocity and modified flow design, the non‐uniform areas occurring in flow field are reduced leading to uniform air distribution throughout the flow volume.

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“…They can directly convert the chemical energy of hydrogen into useful work without undergoing any thermodynamic cycle, resulting in higher efficiencies in direct electrical energy conversion. In addition, they have higher power densities and operate at lower temperatures, [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Open-Source Toolbox for PEM Fuel Cell Simulation

et al. 2018

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In this paper, an open-source toolbox that can be used to accurately predict the distribution of the major physical quantities that are transported within a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is presented. The toolbox has been developed using the Open Source Field Operation and Manipulation (OpenFOAM) platform, which is an open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The base case results for the distribution of velocity, pressure, chemical species, Nernst potential, current density, and temperature are as expected. The plotted polarization curve was compared to the results from a numerical model and experimental data taken from the literature. The conducted simulations have generated a significant amount of data and information about the transport processes that are involved in the operation of a PEM fuel cell. The key role played by the concentration constant in shaping the cell polarization curve has been explored. The development of the present toolbox is in line with the objectives outlined in the International Energy Agency (IEA, Paris, France) Advanced Fuel Cell Annex 37 that is devoted to developing open-source computational tools to facilitate fuel cell technologies. The work therefore serves as a basis for devising additional features that are not always feasible with a commercial code.Computation 2018, 6, 38 2 of 17 making them a suitable choice for automotive power systems, as well as power generation devices for portable electronics and stationary units [1].Nonetheless, the high manufacturing and performance test costs associated with PEM fuel cell systems constitute a major hurdle for their rapid development in terms of experimental studies. Therefore, many researches on PEM fuel cells have focused on improving the cell performance by maximizing its efficiency while minimizing manufacturing and test costs through CFD techniques [1][2][3][4][5]. Most of the current state of the art work is concerned with the effects of modelling parameters on cell polarization [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].As for open-source modelling of PEM fuel cells using OpenFOAM, this paragraph is intended to examine most of the literature's models, though it is likely that it may not include all the published models. Therefore, only the most pertinent issues that are relevant in the context of the present work are examined. Barreras et al. [18] and Lozano et al. [19] developed two dimensional (2-D) OpenFOAM CFD models for investigating the performance of bipolar plates in PEM fuel cells. Besides being 2-D, these models only consider a single fuel cell component (e.g., bipolar plate). It has been shown that transport in PEM fuel cells is three dimensional (3-D) in nature and requires the coupling of multiple regions in the fuel cell. Mustata et al. [20], Valino et al. [21] and Imbrioscia and Fasoli [22] subsequently presented 3-D OpenFOAM CFD models of bipolar plates. Although their models are 3-D, they are also limited to the bipolar plates, and they do not consider the coupling of transport pheno...

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CFD modeling and simulation of PEM fuel cell using OpenFOAM

Cited by 30 publications

References 4 publications

An Open-Source Toolbox for Multiphase Flow Simulation in a PEM Fuel Cell

An Open-Source Toolbox for Multiphase Flow Simulation in a PEM Fuel Cell

Design and Development of Open Cathode PEM Fuel Cell – Flow Analysis Optimization by CFD

An Open-Source Toolbox for PEM Fuel Cell Simulation

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