Volume 9: Sustainable Energy Solutions for Changing the World: Part I

Impact of Micro-Porous Layer Cracks Morphology on Two-Phase Behaviors in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Xin Shi, Daokuan Jiao, Qing Du, Kui Jiao*

Abstract

Recently, it is found that cracks are generated on the micro-porous layer (MPL) surface during the fabrication, and these cracks may act as the main transport paths for liquid water to enter the gas diffusion layer (GDL) from the catalyst layer. In this study, the effects of MPL cracks on liquid behavior in GDL were investigated through a three-dimensional two-phase volume-of-fluid model with reconstructed fibrous structure. Meanwhile, the overlap tructure of MPL and GDL fiber was considered in this study. The results showed that the overlap between the racks and the GDL fibers had a significant influence on the formation of the liquid water breakthrough path. In contrast, cracks shape had less influence on the two-phase flow.

Keywords proton exchange membrane fuel cell, micro-porous layers,volume-of-fluid model, two-phase transport