Publications

Elucidating water-droplet removal in polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Noble, D.R.; Chen, Ken S.

The process of removing liquid water droplets in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) is examined using a simple analytical model and two-dimensional simulations. Specifically, the stability of a droplet adhering to the wall of the cathode flow channel is examined as a function of the geometry of the flow channel, the applied pressure gradient, and the wetting properties. The result is a prediction of the critical droplet size as a function of the difference between the advancing and receding contact angles, or contact angle hysteresis. The analytical model is shown to qualitatively predict this stability limit when compared to two-dimensional simulation results. The simulations are performed using both Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) methods and level set methods. The ALE and level set predictions are shown to be in good agreement. Copyright © 2004 by ASME.