Design of an Experimental Setup to Study Mass Transport in Micro-Nano Capillaries and Porous Media

Study of gas diffusion is critical in understanding the process of mass transfer in porous media, which is an integral part of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). An experimental method is presented to study the mass transfer processes in micro-nano capillaries, which is further extended to study the transport in the porous media of fuel cells. A diffusion bridge setup, similar to the one presented by Remick and Geankoplis [1] has been used. The experimental setup facilitates the study of binary and multicomponent mixture transport through micro-nano capillaries and porous media. The setup can perform studies for two cases viz., pure diffusion and convection-diffusion. Using pressure controls in both channels, the pressure gradient across the capillaries is varied to study the convection diffusion process in detail. The results obtained from the study will be used to review various models of mass transport available in literature.