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Computational fluid dynamic simulation of thermal convection in green fuel cells with finite volume and Lattice Boltzmann methods

Beg, OA; Javaid, H; Beg, TA; Prasad, VR; Kuharat, S; Kadir, A; Leonard, HJ; Jouri, W; Ozturk, Z; Khan, UF

Computational fluid dynamic simulation of thermal convection in green fuel cells with finite volume and Lattice Boltzmann methods Thumbnail


Authors

H Javaid

TA Beg

VR Prasad

HJ Leonard

W Jouri

Z Ozturk

UF Khan



Contributors

A Soni
Editor

D Tripathi
Editor

J Sahariya
Editor

KN Sharma
Editor

Abstract

The modern thrust for green energy technologies has witnessed considerable efforts in developing efficient, environmentally friendly fuel cells. This has been particularly so in the automotive sector which is the dominant mode of personal transport in the 21st century. Toyota has led this fuel revolution and has already implemented a number of hybrid vehicles commercially. PEM (Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, also known as polymer electrolyte membrane), AFC (alkaline) and PAFC (phosphoric acid) and SOFC (solid oxide fuel cells) using Hydrogen/Oxygen, in particular, have demonstrated significant popularity. Such fuel cells have several distinct advantages include reduced emissions (generally water vapour and some heat) and an absence of moving parts requiring significantly less maintenance than conventional internal combustion engines. Salford university has established a major vision for “smart living” and eco-friendly hydrogen fuel cells exemplify this approach. Motivated by this, in the present work a detailed computational fluid dynamic simulation of simplified fuel cell systems are presented. ANSYS FLUENT finite volume commercial software (version 19) has been deployed to simulate flow characteristics and temperature distributions in a 2-dimensional enclosure replicating a hybrid hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell of the PEM, AFC/PAFC and SOFC type. This work has been conducted as a final year undergraduate project in mechanical engineering (by the second author), supervised by the first author. Further input from co-authors has refined the simulations and identified important physical implications for the next generation of hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells. Extensive visualization of transport phenomena in the fuel cell is included i.e. streamline and isotherm contours. Validation of the finite volume computations has also been achieved with a thermal Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) achieving excellent agreement. Mesh independence tests are also performed. The simulations constitute a first step and are being extended to consider three-dimensional transient circulation flows in hydrogen fuel cells.

Citation

Beg, O., Javaid, H., Beg, T., Prasad, V., Kuharat, S., Kadir, A., …Khan, U. (2022). Computational fluid dynamic simulation of thermal convection in green fuel cells with finite volume and Lattice Boltzmann methods. In A. Soni, D. Tripathi, J. Sahariya, & K. Sharma (Eds.), Energy Conversion and Green Energy Storage. Boca Raton, Florida, USA: CRC Press

Acceptance Date Aug 5, 2022
Online Publication Date Sep 14, 2022
Publication Date Sep 14, 2022
Deposit Date Oct 6, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Book Title Energy Conversion and Green Energy Storage
ISBN 9781003258209
Publisher URL https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.1201/9781003258209/energy-conversion-green-energy-storage-amit-soni-dharmendra-tripathi-jagrati-sahariya-kamal-nayan-sharma

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Numerical finite volume analysis of green hybrid fuel cells




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