3-D Numerical Simulation for Fuel Cell Performance

Author(s):  
Tien-Chien Jen ◽  
S. H. Chan ◽  
T. Z. Yan

A 3-D mathematical model for the PEM fuel cell including gas channel has been developed to simulate fluid flow, current density distribution, and multi-component transport. In order to understand the developing fluid flow and mass transfer process inside the fuel cell channels, the conventional Navier-Stokes equations for gas channel, and volume-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for porous gas diffusers and catalyst layer are adopted individually in this study. A set of conservation equations and species concentration equations are solved numerically in a coupled gas channel and porous media domain using the vorticity-velocity method with power law scheme. Detailed development axial velocity and secondary flow fields at various axial positions in the entrance region are presented. Polarization curves under various operating conditions are demonstrated by solving the equations for electrochemical reactions and the membrane phase potential. Compared with experimental data from published literatures, numerical results of this model agree closely with experimental results. Finally, mass transport equations are solved at a preset condition of electrochemical reaction, and oxygen and hydrogen mole fraction distribution fields are displayed.

2016 ◽  
Vol 792 ◽  
pp. 5-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe A. Zampogna ◽  
Alessandro Bottaro

The interaction between a fluid flow and a transversely isotropic porous medium is described. A homogenized model is used to treat the flow field in the porous region, and different interface conditions, needed to match solutions at the boundary between the pure fluid and the porous regions, are evaluated. Two problems in different flow regimes (laminar and turbulent) are considered to validate the system, which includes inertia in the leading-order equations for the permeability tensor through a Oseen approximation. The components of the permeability, which characterize microscopically the porous medium and determine the flow field at the macroscopic scale, are reasonably well estimated by the theory, both in the laminar and the turbulent case. This is demonstrated by comparing the model’s results to both experimental measurements and direct numerical simulations of the Navier–Stokes equations which resolve the flow also through the pores of the medium.


Author(s):  
Vladimir Shigunov ◽  
Ould el Moctar ◽  
Thomas E. Schellin ◽  
Jan Kaufmann ◽  
Rasmus Stute

The dynamic stability was investigated of a typical offshore service vessel operating under stability critical operating conditions. Excessive roll motions and relative motions at the stern were studied for two loading conditions for ship speeds ranging from zero to the design speed. A linear frequency-domain seakeeping analysis was followed by nonlinear time-domain simulations of ship motions in waves. Based on results from these methods, critical scenarios were selected and simulated using finite-volume solvers of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations to understand the phenomena related to dynamically unstable ship motions as well as to confirm the results of the simpler analysis methods. Results revealed the possibility of excessive roll motions and water run-up on deck; counter measures such as a ship-specific operational guidance are discussed.


Author(s):  
Quentin Desbonnets ◽  
Daniel Broc

It is well known that a fluid may strongly influence the dynamic behaviour of a structure. Many different physical phenomena may take place, depending on the conditions: fluid flow, fluid at rest, little or high displacements of the structure. Inertial effects can take place, with lower vibration frequencies, dissipative effects also, with damping, instabilities due to the fluid flow (Fluid Induced Vibration). In this last case the structure is excited by the fluid. Tube bundles structures are very common in the nuclear industry. The reactor cores and the steam generators are both structures immersed in a fluid which may be submitted to a seismic excitation or an impact. In this case the structure moves under an external excitation, and the movement is influence by the fluid. The main point in such system is that the geometry is complex, and could lead to very huge sizes for a numerical analysis. Homogenization models have been developed based on the Euler equations for the fluid. Only inertial effects are taken into account. A next step in the modelling is to build models based on the homogenization of the Navier-Stokes equations. The papers presents results on an important step in the development of such model: the analysis of the fluid flow in a oscillating tube bundle. The analysis are made from the results of simulations based on the Navier-Stokes equations for the fluid. Comparisons are made with the case of the oscillations of a single tube, for which a lot of results are available in the literature. Different fluid flow pattern may be found, depending in the Reynolds number (related to the velocity of the bundle) and the Keulegan-Carpenter number (related to the displacement of the bundle). A special attention is paid to the quantification of the inertial and dissipative effects, and to the forces exchanges between the bundle and the fluid. The results of such analysis will be used in the building of models based on the homogenization of the Navier-Stokes equations for the fluid.


2015 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 261 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.S.R. Chandra Murthy ◽  
Debasis Chakraborty

<p>Computational fluid dynamics methodology was used in characterising jet vane based thrust vector control systems of tactical missiles. Three-dimensional Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations were solved along with two-equation turbulence model for different operating conditions. Nonlinear regression analysis was applied to the detailed CFD database to evolve a mathematical model for the thrust vector control system. The developed model was validated with series of ground based 6-Component static tests. The proven methodology is applied toa new configuration.</p><p><strong>Defence Science Journal, Vol. 65, No. 4, July 2015, pp. 261-264, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.65.7960</strong></p>


Geophysics ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel H. Rothman

Numerical models of fluid flow through porous media can be developed from either microscopic or macroscopic properties. The large‐scale viewpoint is perhaps the most prevalent. Darcy’s law relates the chief macroscopic parameters of interest—flow rate, permeability, viscosity, and pressure gradient—and may be invoked to solve for any of these parameters when the others are known. In practical situations, however, this solution may not be possible. Attention is then typically focused on the estimation of permeability, and numerous numerical methods based on knowledge of the microscopic pore‐space geometry have been proposed. Because the intrinsic inhomogeneity of porous media makes the application of proper boundary conditions difficult, microscopic flow calculations have typically been achieved with idealized arrays of geometrically simple pores, throats, and cracks. I propose here an attractive alternative which can freely and accurately model fluid flow in grossly irregular geometries. This new method solves the Navier‐Stokes equations numerically using the cellular‐automaton fluid model introduced by Frisch, Hasslacher, and Pomeau. The cellular‐ automaton fluid is extraordinarily simple—particles of unit mass traveling with unit velocity reside on a triangular lattice and obey elementary collision rules—but is capable of modeling much of the rich complexity of real fluid flow. Cellular‐automaton fluids are applicable to the study of porous media. In particular, numerical methods can be used to apply the appropriate boundary conditions, create a pressure gradient, and measure the permeability. Scale of the cellular‐automaton lattice is an important issue; the linear dimension of a void region must be approximately twice the mean free path of a lattice gas particle. Finally, an example of flow in a 2-D porous medium demonstrates not only the numerical solution of the Navier‐Stokes equations in a highly irregular geometry, but also numerical estimation of permeability and a verification of Darcy’s law.


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