Numerical Study of Droplet Dynamics in a PEMFC Air Flow Channel

고분자전해질형 연료전지의 공기 채널 내에서의 액적 거동에 대한 수치적 연구

The water droplet motion in an air flow microchannel with pores through which water emerges is studied numerically by solving the equations governing the conservation of mass and momentum. The gas-liquid interface is tracked by a level set method which is based on a sharp-interface representation for accurately imposing the matching conditions at the interface and is modified to implement the contact angle conditions on the wall and pores. The numerical results show that the droplet growth and detachment pattern depend significantly on the contact angle and inlet air velocity. Also, the dynamic interaction between the droplets growing on multiple pores is investigated. The pore arrangement subject to droplet merging is found to be not effective for water removal.