Alkaline water electrolysis(AWE)is the most mature technology for hydrogen production by water electrolysis.Alkaline water electrolyzer consists of multiple electrolysis cells,and a single cell consists of a diaphragm...Alkaline water electrolysis(AWE)is the most mature technology for hydrogen production by water electrolysis.Alkaline water electrolyzer consists of multiple electrolysis cells,and a single cell consists of a diaphragm,electrodes,bipolar plates and end plates,etc.The existing industrial bipolar plate channel is concave-convex structure,which is manufactured by complicated and high-cost mold punching.This structure still results in uneven electrolyte flow and low current density in the electrolytic cell,further increasing in energy consumption and cost of AWE.Thereby,in this article,the electrochemical and flow model is firstly constructed,based on the existing industrial concave and convex flow channel structure of bipolar plate,to study the current density,electrolyte flow and bubble distribution in the electrolysis cell.The reliability of the model was verified by comparison with experimental data in literature.Among which,the electrochemical current density affects the bubble yield,on the other hand,the generated bubbles cover the electrode surface,affecting the active specific surface area and ohmic resistance,which in turn affects the electrochemical reaction.The result indicates that the flow velocity near the bottom of the concave ball approaches zero,while the flow velocity on the convex ball surface is significantly higher.Additionally,vortices are observed within the flow channel structure,leading to an uneven distribution of electrolyte.Next,modelling is used to optimize the bipolar plate structure of AWE by simulating the electrochemistry and fluid flow performances of four kinds of structures,namely,concave and convex,rhombus,wedge and expanded mesh,in the bipolar plate of alkaline water electrolyzer.The results show that the expanded mesh channel structure has the largest current density of 3330 A/m^(2)and electrolyte flow velocity of 0.507 m/s in the electrolytic cell.Under the same current density,the electrolytic cell with the expanded mesh runner structure has the smallest potential and energy consumption.This work provides a useful guide for the comprehensive understanding and optimization of channel structures,and a theoretical basis for the design of large-scale electrolyzer.展开更多
针对自由表面流动与弹性结构的流固耦合计算效率低、计算耗时长的问题,将流体体积法与基于结构-虚拟弹性体的快速动网格方法相结合,发展了一种适用于自由表面流动的高效流固耦合方法。使用流体体积(volume of fluid,VOF)法对流体自由表...针对自由表面流动与弹性结构的流固耦合计算效率低、计算耗时长的问题,将流体体积法与基于结构-虚拟弹性体的快速动网格方法相结合,发展了一种适用于自由表面流动的高效流固耦合方法。使用流体体积(volume of fluid,VOF)法对流体自由表面进行追踪;将流体域视为虚拟弹性体并构建结构-虚拟弹性体系统,以流固耦合界面的多相流体力为激励求解系统的动力学方程得到结构振动位移和流场网格变形;在每一个时间步内依次求解流体流动、结构变形和流场动网格,实现流固耦合计算。基于发展的方法计算了溃坝水流冲击下弹性挡板的流固耦合响应,得到了溃坝水流的自由液面和弹性挡板的运动行为,结果表明:自由液面演变和弹性挡板振动位移的计算结果与已有算法的结果吻合良好;在同等网格规模下,与已有算法相比本文方法可减少33.3%的计算时间;在水流冲击作用下,弹性挡板向冲击侧小幅弯曲。随后水流沿挡板左侧上升并形成射流,挡板向另一侧大幅弯曲。最后由于两侧流体的阻尼,挡板振幅逐渐衰减。展开更多
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.52074130)the Engineering Research Center of Resource Utilization of Carbon-containing Waste with Carbon Neutrality,Ministry of Education。
文摘Alkaline water electrolysis(AWE)is the most mature technology for hydrogen production by water electrolysis.Alkaline water electrolyzer consists of multiple electrolysis cells,and a single cell consists of a diaphragm,electrodes,bipolar plates and end plates,etc.The existing industrial bipolar plate channel is concave-convex structure,which is manufactured by complicated and high-cost mold punching.This structure still results in uneven electrolyte flow and low current density in the electrolytic cell,further increasing in energy consumption and cost of AWE.Thereby,in this article,the electrochemical and flow model is firstly constructed,based on the existing industrial concave and convex flow channel structure of bipolar plate,to study the current density,electrolyte flow and bubble distribution in the electrolysis cell.The reliability of the model was verified by comparison with experimental data in literature.Among which,the electrochemical current density affects the bubble yield,on the other hand,the generated bubbles cover the electrode surface,affecting the active specific surface area and ohmic resistance,which in turn affects the electrochemical reaction.The result indicates that the flow velocity near the bottom of the concave ball approaches zero,while the flow velocity on the convex ball surface is significantly higher.Additionally,vortices are observed within the flow channel structure,leading to an uneven distribution of electrolyte.Next,modelling is used to optimize the bipolar plate structure of AWE by simulating the electrochemistry and fluid flow performances of four kinds of structures,namely,concave and convex,rhombus,wedge and expanded mesh,in the bipolar plate of alkaline water electrolyzer.The results show that the expanded mesh channel structure has the largest current density of 3330 A/m^(2)and electrolyte flow velocity of 0.507 m/s in the electrolytic cell.Under the same current density,the electrolytic cell with the expanded mesh runner structure has the smallest potential and energy consumption.This work provides a useful guide for the comprehensive understanding and optimization of channel structures,and a theoretical basis for the design of large-scale electrolyzer.
文摘针对自由表面流动与弹性结构的流固耦合计算效率低、计算耗时长的问题,将流体体积法与基于结构-虚拟弹性体的快速动网格方法相结合,发展了一种适用于自由表面流动的高效流固耦合方法。使用流体体积(volume of fluid,VOF)法对流体自由表面进行追踪;将流体域视为虚拟弹性体并构建结构-虚拟弹性体系统,以流固耦合界面的多相流体力为激励求解系统的动力学方程得到结构振动位移和流场网格变形;在每一个时间步内依次求解流体流动、结构变形和流场动网格,实现流固耦合计算。基于发展的方法计算了溃坝水流冲击下弹性挡板的流固耦合响应,得到了溃坝水流的自由液面和弹性挡板的运动行为,结果表明:自由液面演变和弹性挡板振动位移的计算结果与已有算法的结果吻合良好;在同等网格规模下,与已有算法相比本文方法可减少33.3%的计算时间;在水流冲击作用下,弹性挡板向冲击侧小幅弯曲。随后水流沿挡板左侧上升并形成射流,挡板向另一侧大幅弯曲。最后由于两侧流体的阻尼,挡板振幅逐渐衰减。
