Numerical Simulation of Gas–Liquid Flow Field in PEM Water Electrolyzer
Hydrogen is an excellent clean energy, and hydrogen production by electrolyzing water has become the preferred method. Due to its high electrolysis efficiency and great potential for energy conversion and storage, water electrolysis in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer has attracted cons...
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MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| author | Yusheng Zhang Xiaoying Yuan Sheng Yao Hairui Yang Cuiping Wang |
| author_facet | Yusheng Zhang Xiaoying Yuan Sheng Yao Hairui Yang Cuiping Wang |
| author_sort | Yusheng Zhang |
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| description | Hydrogen is an excellent clean energy, and hydrogen production by electrolyzing water has become the preferred method. Due to its high electrolysis efficiency and great potential for energy conversion and storage, water electrolysis in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer has attracted considerable attention. In order to explore the factors affecting the internal resistance of PEM water electrolyzers and optimize them, a three-dimensional steady-state model of PEM water electrolyzers coupled with a porous media physical field was established. First, the flow fields in multi-channel and single-channel electrolyzers were designed and comparably simulated. It was found that both flow field configuration and flow modes affected the mass transfer and current distribution. The multi-channel parallel flow field had the lowest flow pressure drop and uniform flow field, which is beneficial to efficient catalytic electrolysis. Secondly, the simulation results of mass transfer in the PEM cell were highly consistent with the reference experimental data, and the increased reference exchange current density (i<sub>0</sub>) can improve the oxygen/hydrogen production performance of the cell. These findings are helpful in optimizing the design of the PEM water electrolyzer. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7f89801d3c4444988df0e48a15fc721c |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj-art-7f89801d3c4444988df0e48a15fc721c2025-08-20T03:11:31ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732025-05-011811277310.3390/en18112773Numerical Simulation of Gas–Liquid Flow Field in PEM Water ElectrolyzerYusheng Zhang0Xiaoying Yuan1Sheng Yao2Hairui Yang3Cuiping Wang4Shandong Key Laboratory of Integrated Multi-Energy Systems for High Efficiency and Intelligent Operation, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Integrated Multi-Energy Systems for High Efficiency and Intelligent Operation, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Integrated Multi-Energy Systems for High Efficiency and Intelligent Operation, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, ChinaDepartment of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaShandong Key Laboratory of Integrated Multi-Energy Systems for High Efficiency and Intelligent Operation, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, ChinaHydrogen is an excellent clean energy, and hydrogen production by electrolyzing water has become the preferred method. Due to its high electrolysis efficiency and great potential for energy conversion and storage, water electrolysis in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer has attracted considerable attention. In order to explore the factors affecting the internal resistance of PEM water electrolyzers and optimize them, a three-dimensional steady-state model of PEM water electrolyzers coupled with a porous media physical field was established. First, the flow fields in multi-channel and single-channel electrolyzers were designed and comparably simulated. It was found that both flow field configuration and flow modes affected the mass transfer and current distribution. The multi-channel parallel flow field had the lowest flow pressure drop and uniform flow field, which is beneficial to efficient catalytic electrolysis. Secondly, the simulation results of mass transfer in the PEM cell were highly consistent with the reference experimental data, and the increased reference exchange current density (i<sub>0</sub>) can improve the oxygen/hydrogen production performance of the cell. These findings are helpful in optimizing the design of the PEM water electrolyzer.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/11/2773PEM water electrolysisdynamic modelingmass transferparallel flow channelflow field |
| spellingShingle | Yusheng Zhang Xiaoying Yuan Sheng Yao Hairui Yang Cuiping Wang Numerical Simulation of Gas–Liquid Flow Field in PEM Water Electrolyzer Energies PEM water electrolysis dynamic modeling mass transfer parallel flow channel flow field |
| title | Numerical Simulation of Gas–Liquid Flow Field in PEM Water Electrolyzer |
| title_full | Numerical Simulation of Gas–Liquid Flow Field in PEM Water Electrolyzer |
| title_fullStr | Numerical Simulation of Gas–Liquid Flow Field in PEM Water Electrolyzer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Numerical Simulation of Gas–Liquid Flow Field in PEM Water Electrolyzer |
| title_short | Numerical Simulation of Gas–Liquid Flow Field in PEM Water Electrolyzer |
| title_sort | numerical simulation of gas liquid flow field in pem water electrolyzer |
| topic | PEM water electrolysis dynamic modeling mass transfer parallel flow channel flow field |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/11/2773 |
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