Numerical Study of Seepage Flow Through a Porous Electrode

• Main Authors: Chun-Wei Chen, 陳君瑋
• Other Authors: Tian-Shiang Yang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2003
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/72005597754849702639

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 機械工程學系碩博士班 === 91 === Due to growing environmental protection concerns and limited oil reserves on earth, development of new energy technologies exploiting alternative low-pollution fuels has become an imperious research objective. In such guest, fuel cells are now considered to be a promising solution. Meanwhile, among various types of existing fuel cells, the proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have received most of the attention, because they can be efficiently operated at relatively low temperatures, use air as the oxidant, produce large power, start fast, and are essentially pollution free. Even so, much work remains to be done to improve the PEMFC technology. In this thesis, we use the commercial software FloWorks™ to simulate the seepage flow through a porous electrode of a PEMFC. In particular, the effects of various system parameters on the overall seepage characteristics are evaluated. The system parameters considered here include the thickness of the porous backing layer, the spacing of gas flow passages on the flow field/current collector, and the operating pressure. Results of numerical simulations are systematically summarized, and the conclusions are expected to be useful for designing realistic fuel cells.