Effect of PTFE Treatment on Water Management in PEM Fuel Cells by Lattice-Boltzmann Method (LBM)

It is believed by many that polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells will have a widespread application because of their many important features including low operating temperature, high power density, and easy scale-up. This type of fuel cell shows a great potential to reduce energy use, pollutant emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. However, operation of PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs) is faced with some limitations due to their water management such as flooding. This makes modeling of water transport phenomena essential in PEMFC analysis and design. With enhanced computational resources becoming available in recent years, lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) has emerged as a powerful tool for the modeling of some components in a PEMFC. Some extraordinary features of LBM include its capability of considering non-homogenous and anisotropic transport properties, modeling multi-phase flows in complicated geometries such as void spaces of a porous medium, and ease of its implementation on parallel processing systems. In this study effects of PTFE treatment method of gas diffusion layer (GDL) of a PEMFC is investigated by LBM simulation. Four cases with different PTFE distribution are considered for this investigation. The results show a great influence of PTFE distribution on the water removal.

Keywords:

PEM fuel cell , Lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) , Water management , Gas diffusion layer (GDL) , PTFE treatment