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Numerical Simulation of a Micro-Fluidic Fuel Cell

Mirjamali, Mohammad | 2015

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: English
  3. Document No: 48623 (58)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology, International Campus, Kish Island
  5. Department: Science and Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Sadrhosseini, Hani; Moosavi, Ali
  7. Abstract:
  8. The microfluidic fuel cell or laminar flow-based fuel cell is a membrane-less fuel cell which typically consists of two electrodes mounted within a T- or Y-shaped microchannel. Aqueous fuel and oxidant are introduced from the two inlets of the channel and flow together side-by-side toward the end of the channel. The Reynolds number in the microchannel is low, and hence viscous forces are dominant over the inertial forces. This causes the anolyte and catholyte form a co-laminar flow inside the microchannel which is required to maintain the separation of the fuel and oxidant and limit the reactions to the appropriate electrodes. In this work, a comprehensive numerical model of the microfluidic fuel cell is developed using COMSOL Multiphysics. This model accounts for the mass and momentum transport phenomena inside the device as well as the electrochemical reaction kinetics which are described by the Butler-Volmer equations. Potential equations are used to model both the ionic conduction in the electrolyte and the electrical conduction in the solid electrodes. The validity of the developed model is first checked by verifying it against the numerical results and then the model is used to assess the effect of modifications in geometry like different inlet angles and other characteristic parameters such as different inlet volumetric flow rates and different oxidant concentrations, which have been applied on the microfluidic fuel cell, by calculating the polarization curves associated with each modification. The numerical model presented is a valuable tool, as it can be used to study the effect of any modifications on the cell performance before fabricating and testing the new design in an expensive experimental study
  9. Keywords:
  10. Microchannel ; Microfluidic System ; COMSOL Software ; Membrane-Less Fuel Cell ; Co-Laminal Flow

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