An open-source toolbox for PEM fuel cell simulation

In this paper, an open-source toolbox that can be used to accurately predict the distribution of the major physical quantities that are transported within a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is presented. The toolbox has been developed using the Open Source Field Operation and Manipulation (O...

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Main Authors: Kone, Jean-Paul, Zhang, Xinyu, Yan, Yuying, Adegbite, Stephen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/57301/
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author Kone, Jean-Paul
Zhang, Xinyu
Yan, Yuying
Adegbite, Stephen
author_facet Kone, Jean-Paul
Zhang, Xinyu
Yan, Yuying
Adegbite, Stephen
author_sort Kone, Jean-Paul
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description In this paper, an open-source toolbox that can be used to accurately predict the distribution of the major physical quantities that are transported within a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is presented. The toolbox has been developed using the Open Source Field Operation and Manipulation (OpenFOAM) platform, which is an open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The base case results for the distribution of velocity, pressure, chemical species, Nernst potential, current density, and temperature are as expected. The plotted polarization curve was compared to the results from a numerical model and experimental data taken from the literature. The conducted simulations have generated a significant amount of data and information about the transport processes that are involved in the operation of a PEM fuel cell. The key role played by the concentration constant in shaping the cell polarization curve has been explored. The development of the present toolbox is in line with the objectives outlined in the International Energy Agency (IEA, Paris, France) Advanced Fuel Cell Annex 37 that is devoted to developing open-source computational tools to facilitate fuel cell technologies. The work therefore serves as a basis for devising additional features that are not always feasible with a commercial code
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spelling nottingham-573012019-08-27T09:45:43Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/57301/ An open-source toolbox for PEM fuel cell simulation Kone, Jean-Paul Zhang, Xinyu Yan, Yuying Adegbite, Stephen In this paper, an open-source toolbox that can be used to accurately predict the distribution of the major physical quantities that are transported within a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is presented. The toolbox has been developed using the Open Source Field Operation and Manipulation (OpenFOAM) platform, which is an open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The base case results for the distribution of velocity, pressure, chemical species, Nernst potential, current density, and temperature are as expected. The plotted polarization curve was compared to the results from a numerical model and experimental data taken from the literature. The conducted simulations have generated a significant amount of data and information about the transport processes that are involved in the operation of a PEM fuel cell. The key role played by the concentration constant in shaping the cell polarization curve has been explored. The development of the present toolbox is in line with the objectives outlined in the International Energy Agency (IEA, Paris, France) Advanced Fuel Cell Annex 37 that is devoted to developing open-source computational tools to facilitate fuel cell technologies. The work therefore serves as a basis for devising additional features that are not always feasible with a commercial code MDPI 2018-05-10 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/57301/1/computation-06-00038-v2.pdf Kone, Jean-Paul, Zhang, Xinyu, Yan, Yuying and Adegbite, Stephen (2018) An open-source toolbox for PEM fuel cell simulation. Computation, 6 (2). 38/1-38/17. ISSN 2079-3197 computational fluid dynamics; modelling; numerical; open-source code; proton exchange membrane fuel cell; simulation http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/computation6020038 doi:10.3390/computation6020038 doi:10.3390/computation6020038
spellingShingle computational fluid dynamics; modelling; numerical; open-source code; proton exchange membrane fuel cell; simulation
Kone, Jean-Paul
Zhang, Xinyu
Yan, Yuying
Adegbite, Stephen
An open-source toolbox for PEM fuel cell simulation
title An open-source toolbox for PEM fuel cell simulation
title_full An open-source toolbox for PEM fuel cell simulation
title_fullStr An open-source toolbox for PEM fuel cell simulation
title_full_unstemmed An open-source toolbox for PEM fuel cell simulation
title_short An open-source toolbox for PEM fuel cell simulation
title_sort open-source toolbox for pem fuel cell simulation
topic computational fluid dynamics; modelling; numerical; open-source code; proton exchange membrane fuel cell; simulation
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/57301/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/57301/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/57301/