TY - JOUR
T1 - Performance analysis of polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer using openfoam®
T2 - Two-phase flow regime, electrochemical model
AU - Rho, Kyu Heon
AU - Na, Youngseung
AU - Ha, Taewook
AU - Kim, Dong Kyu
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - In this study, an electrochemical model was incorporated into a two-phase model using OpenFOAM® (London, United Kingdom) to analyze the two-phase flow and electrochemical behaviors in a polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer. The performances of serpentine and parallel designs are compared. The current density and overpotential distribution are analyzed, and the volume fractions of oxygen and hydrogen velocity are studied to verify their influence on the current density. The current density decreases sharply when oxygen accumulates in the porous transport layer. Therefore, the current density increased sharply by 3000 A/m2 at an operating current density of 10,000 A/m2. Maldistribution of the overpotential is also observed. Second, we analyze the behaviors according to the current density. At a low current density, most of the oxygen flows out of the electrolyzer. Therefore, the decrease in performance is low. However, the current density is maldistributed when it is high, which results in decreased performance. The current density increases abruptly by 12,000 A/m2. Finally, the performances of the parallel and serpentine channels are analyzed. At a high current density, the performance of the serpentine channel is higher than that of the parallel channel by 0.016 V.
AB - In this study, an electrochemical model was incorporated into a two-phase model using OpenFOAM® (London, United Kingdom) to analyze the two-phase flow and electrochemical behaviors in a polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer. The performances of serpentine and parallel designs are compared. The current density and overpotential distribution are analyzed, and the volume fractions of oxygen and hydrogen velocity are studied to verify their influence on the current density. The current density decreases sharply when oxygen accumulates in the porous transport layer. Therefore, the current density increased sharply by 3000 A/m2 at an operating current density of 10,000 A/m2. Maldistribution of the overpotential is also observed. Second, we analyze the behaviors according to the current density. At a low current density, most of the oxygen flows out of the electrolyzer. Therefore, the decrease in performance is low. However, the current density is maldistributed when it is high, which results in decreased performance. The current density increases abruptly by 12,000 A/m2. Finally, the performances of the parallel and serpentine channels are analyzed. At a high current density, the performance of the serpentine channel is higher than that of the parallel channel by 0.016 V.
KW - Electrochemical reaction
KW - Performance analysis
KW - Performance comparison of flow field
KW - Polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer
KW - Two-phase flow
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85098888190&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/membranes10120441
DO - 10.3390/membranes10120441
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85098888190
SN - 2077-0375
VL - 10
SP - 1
EP - 15
JO - Membranes
JF - Membranes
IS - 12
M1 - 441
ER -