Using Multiscale Co-Simulation Modeling Technique to Understand the Transports Interaction inside Gas Channel, GDL, MPL, and CL during PEMFC Operations

Shimpalee, Sirivatch

The objective of this study is to use coupled simulation (co-simulation) approach to model the multidimensional/multiscale/multiphase polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) for enhancing the understanding of fuel cell performance and durability implications with structural, material properties and operational conditions. This work also provides the detailed knowledge of transports inside gas diffusion layer (GDL), microporous layer (MPL), and catalyst layer (CL). The local kinetic activity inside nanoscale CL has also been developed and modeled. These knowledge will contribute to enhance the catalyst activity at low current density and mass transport at high current density. This will enrich the development of novel structures that address local oxygen transport resistance in any kind of catalyst layer and this will be well aware of the urgent need for investigating multi-scale phenomena of a physical and electrochemical nature in a fuel cell.

The Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) approach is extended to solve the mass transports and kinetic in the CL as shown in Figure 1. In this figure the catalyst layer is included into the model established in the previous work [1-3]. The nanoscale catalyst layer is attached into the microscale gas diffusion layer (GDL) and micro porous layer (MPL) as one computational domain. The macroscale geometry such as flow channel is continued to be computed by conventional CFD [4-5]. Figure 2 shows example of predictions of temperature distribution and oxygen mass fraction inside the cathode macroscale flow-field channel, microscale GDL/MPL, and nanoscale CL from this co-simulation approach.

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