Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7720905 | International Journal of Hydrogen Energy | 2014 | 9 Pages |
Abstract
The two-phase flow problem is one of the most critical challenges for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC). With carbon dioxide generated in the anode catalyst layer, a bubble that could not be removed from the flow channel would hinder the oxidation reaction. In this paper, bubble generation and flow in a micro-serpentine channel is modeled using a multi-phase three-dimensional Navier-Stokes plus volume of fluid (VOF) method. The bubble generation process, which results from the gas-liquid flow and the effects of surface tension and viscosity, are discussed and validated by a comparison with a serious of experimental results. The results prove that the VOF method is an effective method to simulate flow fields where the bubble flow phenomena exist, such as the two-phase flow fields in DMFCs.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemistry
Electrochemistry
Authors
Simo Kang, Biao Zhou,