Systematic assessment of the anode flow field hydrodynamics in a new circular PEM water electrolyser. (21st August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Upadhyay, Mukesh; Lee, Sunggeun; Jung, Seokjoo; Choi, Yunki; Moon, Sangbong; Lim, Hankwon
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 45:Number 41(2020)
• Page Start: 20765
• Page End: 20775
• Publication Date: 2020-08-21
• Subjects: PEM water electrolyser -- Computational fluid dynamics -- Anode flow field -- Hydrodynamics; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.05.164
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: In this work, we investigated the key underlying flow characteristics of a circular unit cell proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyser. In particular, we focused on investigating anode flow field design using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool. Transient, 3D single phase fluid flow simulation results were presented, and in-house experiments were conducted for validation against CFD simulation data identifying key performance parameters of the PEM water electrolyser: uniform water distribution, pressure drop and hydraulic retention time. The effects of the water flow rate, inlet and outlet sizing and different number of inlet and outlet configurations were considered. The main observation from the study was discussed to provide insight into the factors affecting the flow pattern. Among the studied flow field design cases, it was found that the average pressure drop decreased with increase in number of inlets, also flow profile can be grouped into different set, depending on number of inlets. The correlation between pressure drop and mean velocity profile for different inlet and outlet configurations provides a useful basis to properly design the high performance PEM water electrolyser. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: A new circular PEM water electrolyser anode flow field was presented and studied. Experiment and CFD simulations were carried out to assess hydrodynamic behavior. Effect of inlet and outlet port sizing and configurations was analyzed. Key hydrodynamics flow patterns were identified to improve performance.