Liquid Water and Gas Flow Simulation in a Channel of PEM Fuel Cells Using the Lattice Boltzmann Method

In a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell, the condensed water in the gas channel prevents the supply of reactants to electrodes, which deteriorates the cell performance. The Lattice Boltzmann simulation has been conducted to understand the behavior of condensed water in the gas channels. The scheme of the two-phase flow with large density difference was applied to find the optimum gas channel design. The present simulation demonstrates the effect of the cross-sectional shape, the droplet initial position, droplet volume and the air flow velocity for a hydrophobic gas channel. Introducing a new dimensionless parameter, which is the pump work needed to remove the droplet from the gas channel, we investigate the effect of each parameter on the drain performance of a PEM fuel cell’s gas channel.