Modeling of energy conversion processes at the microscale

• Forschungsstelle: BFE
• Projektnummer: 103102

Schlussbericht (Englisch)

Main goal of the project was the development of an advanced numerical tool capable of modeling key microscale processes occurring in both thermochemical and electrochemical conversion systems. A particular objective was to apply the new model in a PEFC and compare the predictions with
measurements of permeabilities and diffusivities inside the gas diffusion layer (GDL).
The method of approach involved:
a) developing a new mesoscale Lattice Boltzmann model for: multi-species, non-isothermal, reacting,
complex three-dimensional geometry flows, and
b) carrying out permeability and diffusivity experiments in a model PEFC.

The main results are summarized below:
• Thermal-multicomponent LB model derivation 2D and 3D, and validations in a large number
of benchmark flows.
• Simulation of 3D porous media flows with application to PEFCs.
• Validation of complex geometry algorithm in 2D and 3D against experiments as well as
against other CFD numerical tools.
• Study and characterization of the GDL properties, using in-situ X-ray tomography under
normal operational conditions (saturation dependent permeability and diffusivity).
• Simulation of bulk chemical reactions.

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• Final Report [PDF] 5'396 kB