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Fuel cell physics at your fingertips
Flow simulation enables engineers to understand and visualize the complex flow within with the fuel cell. This plays a critical role in its performance.
In order to properly design fuel cells, engineers must have tools that are application-focused and have the proper physics at their core. ESI’s ACE+ Suite, an engineering design and analysis tool used by various organizations worldwide because of its unique ability to model a wide range of physical and chemical phenomena, provides the perfect solution to conceptualize, analyze and optimize fuel cell systems.
Multiphysics modeling of fuel cells
The physical phenomena of a fuel cell are complicated by the non-linear dynamic interactions among porous media fluid flow, heat transfer, species transfer, ionic and electronic conduction and electro-chemical reaction in the catalyst layer. ACE+ Suite incorporates the proper mathematical models, for the relevant physics, and numerically solves the coupled equation set using a finite-volume based methodology.
Currently three different types of fuel cells can be simulated using ACE+ Suite:
. Proton Exchange Membrane (PEMFC)
Water Analysis of PEMFC
. Solid Oxide (SOFC)
Temperature distribution
. Direct Methanol (DMFC)
Methanol crossover effect
“Simulation has helped us significantly increase the efficiency and life of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) by reducing variations in flow between the individual cells, and within cells.”
Sanjiv Kumar - Ballard Power Systems, Burnaby, British Columbia.
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