Characteristics of liquid droplet motion at gas diffusion layer/gas flow channel interface in PEM fuel cells
Two dimensional models based on the typical part in the flow field of PEM fuel cell were presented to analyse the characteristics of liquid droplet motion at the gas diffusion layer(GDL)/gas flow channel(GFC)interface.There were some regular relationships among the contact angle hysteresis(the difference angle between the advancing and the receding angle of moving droplet),the height of the droplet and the velocity of the shear flow,however,the length of the typical part chosen by random had no effect on the result.This model also coupled the condition when the droplets just ran-off from the surface,and reflected the trend of droplet moving,chasing and coalescing.Analysis showed that:lower flow passage,higher fluid velocity and adopting hydrophobic GDL interface to increase the instability of droplets,while using hydrophilic GFC interface to get bigger acceleration were all good ways for removing water from the fuel cell by corner flow.