TY - JOUR
T1 - Dynamic pore-network modeling of air-water flow through thin porous layers
AU - Qin, Chao Zhong
AU - Guo, Bo
AU - Celia, Michael
AU - Wu, Rui
N1 - Funding Information:
C.Z.Q. and M.C. acknowledge the support of Darcy Center of Utrecht University and Eindhoven University of Technology. R.W. acknowledges the support of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51776122). None declared.
Funding Information:
C.Z.Q. and M.C. acknowledge the support of Darcy Center of Utrecht University and Eindhoven University of Technology . R.W. acknowledges the support of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51776122 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
PY - 2019/7/20
Y1 - 2019/7/20
N2 - Thin porous layers, that have large aspect ratios, are seen in many applications such as hydrogen fuel cells and hygiene products, in which air-water immiscible flow is of great interest. Direct numerical simulations based on Navier-Stokes equation are computationally expensive, and even prohibitive for low capillary number flow such as water flooding in low-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Alternatively, the pore-network modeling needs much less computational resources, while still retaining essentials of the pore-structure information. In this work, a dynamic pore-network model of air-water flow with phase change has been developed. We focus on drainage processes through thin porous layers, in which liquid water is the nonwetting phase. Three test cases are conducted, namely, air-water flow through a thin porous layer, air-water flow through a bilayer of fine and coarse thin porous layers, and water flooding in the gas diffusion layer of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell with phase change between water and its vapor. Using these test cases, we aim to demonstrate the application of dynamic pore-network modeling in thin porous media studies. In particular, we discuss the challenge of modeling thin porous media at the average scale, and highlight the role of phase change in removing liquid water from the cathode gas diffusion layer.
AB - Thin porous layers, that have large aspect ratios, are seen in many applications such as hydrogen fuel cells and hygiene products, in which air-water immiscible flow is of great interest. Direct numerical simulations based on Navier-Stokes equation are computationally expensive, and even prohibitive for low capillary number flow such as water flooding in low-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Alternatively, the pore-network modeling needs much less computational resources, while still retaining essentials of the pore-structure information. In this work, a dynamic pore-network model of air-water flow with phase change has been developed. We focus on drainage processes through thin porous layers, in which liquid water is the nonwetting phase. Three test cases are conducted, namely, air-water flow through a thin porous layer, air-water flow through a bilayer of fine and coarse thin porous layers, and water flooding in the gas diffusion layer of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell with phase change between water and its vapor. Using these test cases, we aim to demonstrate the application of dynamic pore-network modeling in thin porous media studies. In particular, we discuss the challenge of modeling thin porous media at the average scale, and highlight the role of phase change in removing liquid water from the cathode gas diffusion layer.
KW - Phase change
KW - Pore-network modeling
KW - Thin porous media
KW - Two-phase flow
KW - Water and heat management
KW - polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC)
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ces.2019.03.038
DO - 10.1016/j.ces.2019.03.038
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85063196192
SN - 0009-2509
VL - 202
SP - 194
EP - 207
JO - Chemical Engineering Science
JF - Chemical Engineering Science
ER -