Seminar Overview
Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy
of a reaction directly into electrical energy. Of the many types of fuel
cells currently under development, Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cells
(PEMFC) show promise as components in highly efficient smaller auxiliary
power units, and in transportation industry. This web-based seminar will
familiarize you with polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, explain
why the auto industry is investing heavily in PEMFC technology, and show
how you can take advantage of new computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling
tools to improve fuel cell component designs and optimize system performance.
Fluent Inc. has developed new CFD tools, which enable modeling of PEMFC.
A polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell consists of an ion-conducting,
impermeable electrolyte layer, bounded by porous anode and cathode diffusion
layers, flow channels and current collecting regions. Therefore, a PEMFC
model must take into account:
- Fluid flow, heat transfer, and mass transfer in porous anode and cathode
layers
- Electrochemical reactions
- Water transport across the polymer membrane
- Multiphase flow with phase change in the porous cathode gas diffusion
layer
- Electric current transport and potential field in porous anode, cathode,
and solid conducting regions
Details on all of these models will be provided during the seminar. Results
of model validation against experimental data will also be shown.
Who should attend?
- Engineering directors at power generation companies
- Engineering managers with responsibility for fuel cell R&D
- Fuel cell researchers and development engineers
- Anyone who is interested in future directions in auto industry and
auxiliary power generation technologies
Agenda
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1.
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Greetings/Introductions
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Fluent
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- Goals for this presentation
- Introduction of speakers
- Seminar logistics
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2.
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Introduction to PEMFC technology
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University of
Victoria, British Columbia
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- What are polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells?
- Why will PEMFC be important in future auto industry?
- What is the status of PEMFC research and development?
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3.
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Fluent PEMFC model
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Fluent
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- What is CFD and what are its benefits?
- How can CFD be used to model PEMFC?
- How are the key physical models implemented in the code?
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4.
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Fluent PEMFC roadmap
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Fluent
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- What further technical improvements are planned for the PEMFC
model?
- What is required to simulate a fuel cell stack, as opposed
to a channel?
- What methods are used to validate Fluent models?
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5.
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Q&A summary
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Fluent
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- Summary of questions received on-line during the seminar
- Answers to selected frequently-asked questions
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6.
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Conclusions
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Fluent
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- Summary of meeting topics and conclusions
- How to get more information
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To register visit http://fluent.com/direct/fuelcell_webinars/cfdonline
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