3D two‐phase and non‐isothermal modeling for PEM water electrolyzer: Heat and mass transfer characteristic investigation. (12th July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Haoran; Meng, Kai; Chen, Wenshang; Chen, Ben
• Is Part Of: International journal of energy research. Volume 46:Number 12(2022)
• Page Start: 17126
• Page End: 17143
• Publication Date: 2022-07-12
• Subjects: electrolyzer performance -- heat transfer -- mass transfer -- non‐isothermal -- PEM water electrolyzer -- two‐phase flow; Power resources -- Periodicals; Power (Mechanics) -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Research -- Periodicals; 621.042
• DOI: 10.1002/er.8375
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0363-907X

Abstract

Summary: A three‐dimensional, two‐phase, non‐isothermal proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzer model was developed, aiming to reveal water and heat distribution characteristics and to explore the effects of various parameters on heat and mass transfer and performance of the electrolyzer. The results show that the electrolyzer performance depends on the combined effect of heat and mass, especially at high voltages. Although increasing the inlet velocity can accelerate the discharge of bubbles, it causes a larger temperature drop which degrades the performance. Increasing the inlet temperature can effectively improve the kinetic reaction rate of the catalyst layer and reduce the ohmic resistance of the membrane, which promotes the performance improvement. Decreasing the contact angle of anode gas diffusion layer (A‐GDL) and increasing its porosity is beneficial to the transport of liquid water and improves the performance, but excessive porosity leads to a rapid increase in the ohmic resistance of A‐GDL, and the optimal porosity range is 0.5 to 0.6. In addition, changes in A‐GDL porosity and contact angle have little effect on temperature. Decreasing the thickness of the membrane can significantly improve the performance, but accelerate the increase of the membrane temperature at high voltage. Abstract : The manuscript entitled "3D two‐phase and non‐isothermal modeling for PEM water electrolyzer: Heat and mass transfer characteristic investigation" is prepared by Haoran Zhou, Kai Meng, Wenshang Chen, Ben Chen. A three‐dimensional, two‐phase, non‐isothermal proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzer model was developed, aiming to reveal water and heat distribution characteristics and to explore the effects of various parameters on heat and mass transfer and performance of the electrolyzer. The results show that the electrolyzer performance depends on the combined effect of heat and mass, especially at high voltages. Decreasing the inlet velocity and increasing its inlet temperature, decreasing the contact angle of A‐GDL and properly increasing its porosity, and decreasing the thickness of membrane are all beneficial to improve the performance of PEM water electrolyzer.