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The effect of inlet velocity of water on the two-phase flow regime in the porous transport layer of polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzer

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Abstract

In this paper two-dimensional (2D), two-phase numerical model is proposed to investigate the effect of water velocity in the channel on the two-phase flow regime in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer porous transport layer (PTL). To simulate the movement of gas-liquid interface finite element method has been used. The model includes a porous media as PTL and a water channel. The water and air is considered as incompressible. The results showed different water velocities although causing different paths of two-phase flow in the PTL have little effect on the type of two-phase flow regimes in the porous media. On the other hand, different water velocities cause different two-phase flows in the channel. For effective removal of airflow in the PTL, the range of water velocities in which the two-phase flow regime in the channel is a bubbly flow is recommended. Therefore, the minimum velocity is necessary for the bubbly flow in the channel.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran

    S. Z. Hoseini Larimi, A. Ramiar & R. Shafaghat

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amol University of Special Modern Technology, Amol, Iran

    Q. Esmaili

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  1. S. Z. Hoseini Larimi
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  2. A. Ramiar
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  3. Q. Esmaili
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  4. R. Shafaghat
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Correspondence to A. Ramiar.

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Hoseini Larimi, S.Z., Ramiar, A., Esmaili, Q. et al. The effect of inlet velocity of water on the two-phase flow regime in the porous transport layer of polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzer. Heat Mass Transfer 55, 1863–1870 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-2436-x

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