international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

ScienceDirect

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he

Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton

exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal
from the gas diffusion layer surface

Shuai Liu a,b,*, Libin Zhang a, Zhong Wang a, Fei Dong a, Qingliang Zhao b,
Qixia Zhang a
a
School of Automobile and Traffic Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
b
Tsinghua University Suzhou Automotive Research Institute, Suzhou 215200, China

highlights

Water removal and transport in a novel PEMFC channel is analyzed numerically.

The novel flow channel consists of a hydrophilic pipe in the flow channel.

The hydrophilic pipe can effectively remove the liquid water on the surface of GDL.

Effect of hydrophilic structure parameters on the removal rate of liquid water on GDL surface.

The optimal diameter, height and spacing of hydrophilic pipes are investigated.

article info abstract

Article history: In a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), effective GDL surface water elimination
Received 30 January 2021 is significant to water management. This paper used the volume-of-fluid method (VOF)
Received in revised form method to carry out simulation research on transferring liquid water in the flow channel
6 June 2021 with a hydrophilic pipe. The findings indicated that compared with a straight channel, a
Accepted 23 June 2021 hydrophilic pipe structure could effectively remove water from the gas diffusion surface
Available online xxx (GDL) and reduce the surface water coverage of the GDL. With the increase in the diameter
and height of the pipe structure, the GDL surface's water coverage first increased and then
Keywords: decreased, and it was less with the pipe structure than with the direct flow channel. The
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell removal rate of water on the GDL surface was accelerated. The spacing of hydrophilic pipes
Water management has a significant impact on the transportation of water. As the spacing increases, the
Gas diffusion layer removal rate of water on the GDL surface slowed. A hydrophilic pipe structure with a
VOF diameter of 75 mm, a height of 400 mm, and spacing of 300 mm has good water removal
Hydrophilic pipe performance on the GDL surface. This research work proposes a new internal structure
design of the flow channel, which has specific implications for removing water on the GDL
surface.
© 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author. School of Automobile and Traffic Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China.
E-mail address: lstcls@ujs.edu.cn (S. Liu).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
0360-3199/© 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
2 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
Introduction
A proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is an efficient
and clean electrochemical energy conversion device [1e4].
Water management affects the performance and reliability of
the PEMFC, which is the key to its reliable operation [5,6]. The
water produced during the working process of the PEMFC
seeps to the gas diffusion layer (GDL) surface through the
pores and is blown out of the channel. Due to the relatively
narrow flow channel, it is hard to remove the water on the
GDL surface, which causes water to accumulate in the GDL
and the flow channel. The resistance of flow and the diffusion
of gas into the catalytic layer (CL) increases, which hinders the
transmission of water generated by the reaction and reduces
the performance of the PEMFC [7e9]. For the water manage-
ment of the PEMFC, it is necessary to understand the mech-
anism of water transmission and removal in the flow channel
and minimize the obstacles to reactive gas transportation
[10,11].
The flow channel's design strengthens water transmission
and removal. The flow channel's geometry and pattern
significantly affect the transportation of the reactants and of
water management overall. It is essential to effectively
dislodge the water on the GDL surface through proper flow
channel design. Arranging a hydrophilic structure could
effectively remove water from the GDL surface. When droplets
on the GDL surface contact the hydrophilic structure, droplets
will be pulled away from the GDL due to the hydrophilic
structure's capillary action on the droplets, effectively
removing water from the GDL.
The flow channel's design is vital for water management.
Many scholars have done significant work on PEMFC flow
channel design; this work has focused mainly on two aspects
of experimental and numerical simulation. Because PEMFC
operates at a low temperature, visual characterization tech-
nology to obtain the cell's internal water distribution and
transmission mechanism has been widely used [12,13]. At
present, the commonly used visual characterization methods
include optically transparent batteries, X-ray imaging,
neutron imaging, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging
[14]. M. Rahimi-Esbo et al. [15] proposed a 2-1 serpentine flow
channel; they designed and manufactured a transparent
PEMFC and verified experimentally that the new flow channel
has a better water removal effect. Kosuke et al. [16] used a
high-speed camera to visually analyze water in a transparent
PEMFC serpentine flow channel. That study found that a
horizontally arranged serpentine channel could enhance the
flow channel's water removal performance. Wu et al. [17]
applied neutron imaging to discuss a serpentine flow field
design's effect on PEMFC water management. The number of
serpentine channels in the cathode flow channel had a sig-
nificant effect on the water management of the PEMFC. The
serpentine channel has better cell performance and local
water distribution uniformity. Cho et al. [18,19] proposed
applying a lung inspiratory airflow field in the PEMFC. They
used neutron imaging technology to evaluate the lung inspi-
ratory airflow field and the water that formed in the
Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
serpentine flow channel. The study found that a fractal flow
channel could provide uniform gas distribution. Still, the
bifurcated outlet channel was prone to overflowing due to
slow gas velocity and narrow channel size, resulting in per-
formance degradation. Cho et al. proposed a new water
management scheme, which used a capillary array to manage
the water in the PEMFC. The proposed method avoids the
additional parasitic loss caused by the high-pressure drop
associated with the traditional serpentine flow channel.
Bachman et al. [20] proposed a novel model of the serpentine
flow channel. By changing the channel length, the perfor-
mance of the PEMFC was improved. It could be found from this
research that an experiment is a necessary means to study the
flow channel geometry and pattern and their effect on the
distribution and transmission of water in the channel. In the
working process of the PEMFC, the characterization of two-
phase flow has limitations. Direct photography facilitates
immediate and direct observation at a reasonable cost.
Because transparent windows change the material properties
of the PEMFC, the experimental results of water distribution
inside the battery often deviate from the actual situation to a
certain extent. Neutron imaging, x-ray imaging, and nuclear
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have certain disadvan-
tages: in particular, they are highly dependent on equipment
performance and unique materials [21e23].
The removal of water from the GDL surface prevents the
flooding of the PEMFC porous electrode. It advances the transfer
of the reaction gas into the porous electrode, which enhances
the operational performance of the PEMFC. Experiments con-
ducted to reveal the shortcomings of water transportation have
prompted researchers to perform computational fluid dy-
namics simulations. In the current research, the volume-of-
fluid method (VOF) method, a macroscopic interface capture
method, takes into account the effects of wall adhesion and
surface tension and accurately tracks the two-phase interface.
It is widely used to study the two-phase transport process in
the flow channel of the PEMFC [24,25]. Many scholars have used
the VOF method to introduce water into the GDL surface in the
shape of droplets to simulate water transmission in the flow
channel. Qin et al. [26] used the VOF method to carry out a
numerical study on the water transfer and removal of the flow
channel with a hydrophilic plate. It was found the hydrophilic
plate could be advantageous to decreasing the pressure drop.
The hydrophilic plate's length, height, and wettability directly
influence water transportation. The introduction of hydrophilic
needles was also studied; the analysis showed that the hydro-
philic needles could promote water removal from the electrode
surface and prevent the overflow and blockage of the reactive
gas into the electrode [27e29]. It could be seen that the hydro-
philic structure was conducive to water transmission in the
flow channel. The influence of channel surface wettability on
water transport was studied by combining sliding flow char-
acteristics and shear wall boundary conditions [30]. Xie et al.
[31] proposed a kind of lotus microstructure and studied the
influence of microstructure shape parameters on the flow
channel drag reduction performance and water removal per-
formance. Chen et al. [32] used the VOF method to conduct a
numerical simulation of water flow on the GDL surface and
 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx 3

found that the channel surface wettability affects the water results have certain guiding significance for improving the
droplet's shape and transmission channel. Lei et al. [33] studied working performance of fuel cells.
the liquid hydrodynamic behavior in a tapered inclined struc-
ture, and the results showed that the introduction of the
tapered inclined structure could improve the transmission ef- Numerical method
ficiency of droplets in the flow channel. Anyanwu et al. [34,35]
applied the VOF method to carry out a numerical study on Computation domain and assumptions
droplet transportation in a PEMFC sinusoidal channel. It was
found that the sinusoidal distance and wall contact angle This paper's calculation domain is an improved fuel cell hy-
affected the two-phase flow in the channel, so the application drophilic pipe flow channel used to study the impact of a
of a sinusoidal channel in the water management of the PEMFC hydrophilic pipe structure on GDL surface water removal and
should be considered. Niu et al. [36] studied the different water transport in the flow channel. The bottom face of the flow
removal behaviors in two innovative 3D cathode flow channels, channel is the GDL, the cross-sectional dimension along the Y
and the results showed that an air baffle significantly enhanced direction is 1 mm  1 mm, and the length is 5.1 mm. The
the mass transfer and performance of the PEMFC. However, hydrophilic structure is symmetrically fixed in the upper re-
these designs are not suitable under conditions of low oper- gion of the flow channel, and its diameter, height, and spacing
ating current density because of the significant pressure pump are D, H, and S, respectively, as shown in Fig. 1.
loss. Li et al. [37] studied the dynamics of droplets in the three- In the PEMFC, the water produced by the reaction flows to
dimensional flow field, and the results showed that the three- the flow channel via the GDL. To analyze the transport of a
dimensional flow field had a greater driving force on the single droplet in the channel, a droplet is introduced on the
droplets, and the deformation of the droplets affected the GDL surface near the channel's inlet at the beginning, ignoring
discharge of liquid water. Bao et al. [38] discussed the transport the phase transition of the water. The model assumes that the
of reactants and removed water. The air guiding function of the gas flow is laminar and incompressible, the gas flows into the
three-dimensional baffle facilitated the transportation of the flow channel at a constant speed, and the temperature is
reactants. However, the three-dimensional flow field's water- constant. The surface tension coefficient between the two
holding ability was restricted and affected by the air velocity phases is assumed to be constant. The flow channel of the
and the baffle's contact angle. GDL surface contact angle remains unchanged, and the dy-
From the current research, it can be seen that most of the namic wetting effect is not considered.
previous studies have focused on the shape of the flow
channel. The research hotspots are sine waves, serpentine Governing equations
channels, and 3D channels, but the current research has not
solved the problems of the high pressure drop that causes The paper uses the VOF method to track the water-air inter-
additional parasitic losses and other problems. In addition, face transmission, and the governing equation is as follows:
the processing complexity of 3D channels is an obstacle to Continuity equation:
commercialization. In terms of water vapor transmission,
vr
research hotspots mainly focus on the removal of liquid water þ V , ðr!
vÞ¼0 (1)
vt
on the surface of GDL. Arranging a hydrophilic structure in the
flow channel can effectively reduce the coverage of liquid where r (kg m3) is density and !
v (m s1) is the velocity vector.
water on the surface of GDL, and the processing is simple. At Momentum equation:
this stage, research on the hydrophilic structure focuses only !


vðrvÞ !
þ V , r!
v ,!
v ¼  VP þ mV , Vn þ V!
on hydrophilic needles and hydrophilic separators. With the T
v þ FS (2)
flow of droplets in the flow channel and their own gravity, the vt
droplets will still stick to the surface of the GDL and cause where P (Pa) is static pressure, m (kg m1 s1) is viscosity, and
blockage of the porous electrode. To control the pressure drop !
FS (N m3) is the surface tension at the water-air interface.
of the flow channel and enhance the water removal perfor-
The surface tension can be written as:
mance on the GDL surface, it is necessary to conduct in-depth
research on the application of different hydrophilic structures rkVf 1
FS ¼  s (3)
in the flow channel. 0:5ðr1 þ r2 Þ
In this paper, a late-model structured hydrophilic pipe was
where s (N m1) is the surface tension coefficient, and k is the
designed to improve water removal on the GDL surface. The
curvature at the interface between the two phases. Eq. (3) is
VOF method was used to carry out a three-dimensional nu-
the continuum surface force model proposed by Brackbill et al.
merical calculation of the flow channel's water transmission.
[39]. The interface curvature k can be expressed as:
The impact of the structural parameters (diameter, height,
and spacing) of the hydrophilic pipe on the water trans- !
n
b ¼ V, !
k¼V, n (4)
portation and removal on the GDL surface were studied. The jnj
research work of this paper effectively removed liquid water
from the surface of the GDL and enabled the rapid transport of where nb is the unit surface normal vector, and !
n is the unit
liquid water in the flow channel, improved the reaction gas surface normal vector defined as the phase volume fraction
transmission, and alleviated the flow channel flooding. Our gradient.

Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
4 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 1 e (a) Computation domain of hydrophilic pipe flow channel and Hydrophilic pipe structure diagram (b) Cross-sectional
view (c) Top view and partially enlarged view (d) Left view.

of the inlet. The outlet adopts the pressure outlet boundary,

!
n ¼ Vf1 (5) and the pressure is Pout ¼ 1atm. The hydrophilic pipe surface,
GDL, and flow channel are all set with no-slip boundary con-
Assuming the adhesion effect of the wall, the normal ditions. The contact angles of the hydrophilic pipe, flow
b of the surface, and it depends on the mesh element
vector n channel wall, and GDL wall surface are, respectively,
adjacent to the wall. Then, the surface curvature near the qhydrophilic pipe ¼30 , qchannel ¼45 , and qGDL ¼153 . When t ¼ 0 s, a
border can be written as: droplet with a diameter of 0.6 mm is introduced on the surface
  of the GDL at a distance of 0.5 mm from the inlet of the flow
b¼ n
k¼V, n b w cosðqÞ þ bt w sinðqÞ (6) channel. The initial conditions of the model are set as the air
inlet velocity vy;0 . The flow channel outlet pressure
where nb w is the unit vector perpendicular to the wall, bt w is the
Pout ¼ 1atm, and the surface tension coefficient is slg ¼ 0.073 N/
unit vector tangential to the wall, and q ( ) is the static contact
m.
angle of the wall.
The volume fraction f2 of liquid water is Eq. (7):
Discrete method
vf2  
þ V , f2 !
v ¼0 (7) The ANSYS FLUENT 19R2 platform was used to set the control
vt
equations, boundaries, and initial conditions. A three-
The air volume fraction ðf1 Þ is Eq. (8):
dimensional transient simulation of the movement of the
f1 þ f2 ¼ 1 (8) droplets in the flow channel was carried out. The pressure-
based solver was used to solve the unsteady governing
The density and viscosity appearing in the governing
equations, and the VOF method based on the explicit scheme
equation are average values, which could be obtained by the
was used for multiphase simulation. Air was the primary
following formula:
phase, and liquid water was the secondary phase. Pressure-
r ¼ r1 f1 þ r2 f2 (9) velocity coupling was obtained by using the pressure im-
plicit with the split operator (PISO), and the pressure dis-
m ¼ m1 f1 þ m2 f2 (10) cretization was obtained by the staggering pressure option
(PRESTO) scheme. The second-order upwind scheme was
Boundary and initial conditions used to solve the momentum equation, and the Geo-
Reconstruct scheme was used to calculate the volume frac-
In this paper, the model's boundary conditions consisted of tion at the interface. The time step in the simulation was
the inlet and outlet of the flow channel, in which the lower 106 s.
wall of the flow channel is the GDL; the two side walls and the
upper wall of the flow channel; and the surface of the hy- Numerical scheme
drophilic pipe. To simplify the analysis, the GDL is an imper-
vious surface. The inlet adopts the speed inlet, the speed is The hydrophilic pipes with different diameters, heights, and
vy;0 ¼ 6m=s, and the direction is perpendicular to the boundary spacings were simulated to discuss the impact of the

Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

paper. Fig. 2(b) compares the simulated pressure drop curve

Table 1 e Simulation schemes under changing diameters.
with the pressure curve obtained in previous studies. As
Case D (mm) H (mm) S (mm) shown in the figure, the pressure curve has the right consis-
1 e e e tency. Therefore, the simulation results are reliable [26].
2 50 400 250
3 75 400 250
4 100 400 250
Results and discussions
5 125 400 250
6 150 400 250
Influence of the diameter of the hydrophilic pipe on the
removal of water from the GDL surface

Table 2 e Simulation schemes under changing heights. In previous studies, Qin et al. [28,29] discussed the influence of
Case D (mm) H (mm) S (mm) needle diameter on the water transport and dynamics in the
1 e e e flow channel. The study found that the diameter of the needle
2 100 350 250 will affect the pressure drop in the flow channel and the speed
3 100 400 250 of liquid water transmission; this, along with the additional
4 100 450 250 pressure drop caused by the needle, make it necessary to
5 100 500 250 control the increase in the pressure drop. A larger needle
6 100 550 250
diameter will enhance the capillary effect and cause the
droplet flow rate to decrease, so a smaller needle diameter is
used. In this paper, to study the influence of different hydro-
Table 3 e Simulation schemes under changing spacings. philic pipe diameters, combined with Qin et al.'s research on
Case D (mm) H (mm) S (mm) the diameter of hydrophilic needles, the diameters of the
hydrophilic pipes studied are 50 mm, 75 mm, 100 mm, 125 mm,
1
and 150 mm. Fig. 3(a) shows the effect of different diameter
e e e
2 100 400 150
3 100 400 200 hydrophilic pipe structures on droplet motion. The blue area
4 100 400 250 is the water-air interface in the flow channel, and the
5 100 400 300 remaining space is the air. As can be seen in the figure, when
6 100 400 350 the model is a direct flow channel, the droplets adhere to the
GDL surface and move to the outlet. When a hydrophilic pipe
hydrophilic pipe shape parameters on the water transport and structure is arranged in the flow channel, with the movement
removal on the GDL in the flow channel. The specific schemes of the droplet, the droplet on the GDL surface will separate
are shown in Tables 1e3. from the GDL surface, adhere to the hydrophilic pipe struc-
ture, form a liquid film between the hydrophilic pipes, and
Grid independence test and model verification flow out of the flow channel along the hydrophilic pipes. In
contrast to the direct flow channel, the hydrophilic pipe
The grid independence test was carried out to determine the structure could effectively remove the water on the GDL sur-
appropriate grid size, and the grid numbers were 750,000, face. The velocity field distribution in the flow channel will
1,000,000, and 1,300,000. The results are shown in Fig. 2(a). It affect the deformation degree of the droplet [40,41]. Fig. 4
can be seen that when the grid is 1 million, the difference in shows the droplet deformation degree in the flow channel
the pressure drop is minimal, so 1 million grids are used in this and the velocity field distribution in the Y direction when

Fig. 2 e (a) Grid independence test (b) Comparison of pressure drop between simulation results and references.

Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
6 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 3 e Comparison of (a) the predicted behavior of droplet (b) velocity field at Y direction with different diameters.

D ¼ 100 mm. It can be seen from the figure that the droplet
shape change from round to flat to an ellipse, and the relative
height of the droplet increases, causing the droplet to contact
the hydrophilic pipe. Combined with the velocity field distri-
bution in the Y direction, due to the high-speed area at the
lower ends of the hydrophilic pipes on both sides when
t ¼ 3 ms, the droplets are subjected to the tangential force on
both sides of the hydrophilic pipe, resulting in the deforma-
tion of the droplets. The relative height of the droplet in-
creases, so the droplet will contact the hydrophilic pipe. When
the droplet comes into contact with the hydrophilic pipe, due
to the capillary action of the surface of the hydrophilic pipe on
the droplet, the droplet will be pulled away from the GDL
surface, and the contact region between the GDL surface and
the droplet will be reduced, thereby effectively removing the
water. The hydrophilic pipe diameter has a specific impact on
the transportation of water. As the hydrophilic pipe's diameter
increases, the droplets' spreading area between the hydro-
philic pipes increases, and the shape develops from an
agglomeration of droplets to a liquid film. This occurs because
the increase in diameter causes a rise in the radial area be-
tween the hydrophilic pipes, causing contact between the
hydrophilic pipe and the droplet. A larger contact area leads to
enhanced capillary action. The hydrophilic pipe's surface
attraction to the droplets increases, and the degree of droplet
deformation increases, forming a liquid film. As the hydro-
philic pipe diameter increases, the flow velocity of the drop-
lets in the flow channel decreases. This occurs because, after
the spreading area of the droplets increases, the windward
size decreases, resulting in a decrease in the droplets' move-
ment speed [42,43]. When D ¼ 75 mm, the hydrophilic pipe
structure has better water removal performance on the GDL
surface.
Fig. 3(b) shows the influence of different diameter hydro-
philic pipes in the Y direction's velocity field. It can be found
from the figure that at 1 ms when the droplet is close to the
inlet end, the air flows through the droplet, and the air moves
around the droplet near the droplet. There is a part of the area

Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 4 e Deformation process of liquid water and velocity field distribution in Y direction (D ¼ 100 mm).
where the flow velocity is large at the droplet's top. The high
flow velocity causes the pressure in this part to be small so
that the droplet tends to move in the ZY direction. There is a
big difference between the flow channel's velocity field of the
straight flow channel versus in the hydrophilic pipe structure.
When the droplet moves into the flow channel, the area with a
large flow velocity is mainly concentrated on the area above
the droplet near the channel's top. When the droplets move
into the hydrophilic pipe structure, the high-speed zone is
primarily focused under the hydrophilic pipe structure near
the surface of the GDL. When the air moves along the
tangential direction of the front end of the hydrophilic pipe,
the airflow direction changes, and the flow rate forms a local
contraction at the lower end of the hydrophilic pipe. There-
fore, the flow rate increases, which causes the reaction gas to
enter the porous medium, participating in the reaction and
accelerate the removal of water on the GDL surface and pre-
venting the avoid the clogging of the pores [44]. The hydro-
philic pipe diameter has a more significant impact on the Y-
direction velocity field in the flow channel. At t ¼ 1 ms, as the
hydrophilic pipe's diameter increases, the velocity between
the hydrophilic pipe and the GDL surface gradually increases.
The diameter increases, the airflow in the tangential direction
increases, and the flow velocity after local contraction in-
creases. At 7 ms, as the hydrophilic pipe's diameter increases,
a high-speed zone is formed between the hydrophilic pipe and
the surface of the GDL. This occurs because the diameter in-
creases. The spreading area of the droplet on the hydrophilic
pipe increases. The flow channel's resistance decreases, and
the air tends to flow toward the lower part of the hydrophilic
pipe in local contractions, increasing the flow velocity.
Fig. 5(a) shows the influence of different hydrophilic pipe
diameters on the pressure drop. It could be found that the
pressure drop of the flow channel of the hydrophilic pipe
structure is greater than that of the direct flow channel. This
occurs because the hydrophilic pipe structure increases the
Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
7
gas resistance in the flow channel, increasing the pressure
drop. While the droplet moves, the pressure drop curve shows
a decreasing trend and tends to be stable. This occurs because
the windward side of the droplet is the largest in the initial
stage, resulting in the largest resistance. As the droplet is
pulled away from the GDL surface, and a liquid film is formed
between the hydrophilic pipe, the pressure drop is somewhat
reduced. As the diameter of the hydrophilic pipe increases,
the pressure drop generally increases gradually. Fig. 5(b)
shows the influence of different hydrophilic pipe diameters on
the water coverage of the GDL surface. It could be found that
the water coverage of the GDL surface gradually decreases
after the droplet moves into the hydrophilic pipe. This occurs
because the hydrophilic pipe's capillary action reduces the
contact region between the droplet and the GDL surface. At
t ¼ 2 ms, the water coverage on the GDL surface will suddenly
increase. This occurs because the airflow in the tangential
direction at the front end of the hydrophilic pipe causes the
droplet to be pressed downward. The contact region between
the droplet and the GDL surface increases, resulting in an in-
crease in the surface water coverage on the GDL. The water
coverage on the surface of the GDL first increases and then
decreases. As the diameter increases, the removal rate of
water on the surface of the GDL increases. The results show
that the hydrophilic pipe structure can significantly improve
the removal of the water on the GDL surface.
Influence of the height of hydrophilic pipe on the removal of
water from the GDL surface
The heights of the hydrophilic pipes studied in this paper were
350 mm, 400 mm, 450 mm, 500 mm, and 550 mm. Fig. 6(a) shows the
effect of the different heights of hydrophilic pipe structures on
droplet motion. It can be found that the hydrophilic pipe
structure flow channel has better GDL surface water removal
capacity than the straight flow channel. When H ¼ 350 mm, the
8 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 5 e The influence of the diameter of the hydrophilic pipe on (a) the pressure drop in the flow channel (b) the water
coverage of GDL surface.

Fig. 6 e Comparison of (a) the predicted behavior of droplet (b) velocity field at Y direction with different heights.

Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
droplet moves on the GDL surface. As the hydrophilic pipe's
height increases, the droplet is pulled away from the GDL
surfacedbecause of the squeezing force on both sides of the
hydrophilic pipe and the capillary action of the body of the
hydrophilic pipedand moves into the hydrophilic pipe struc-
ture. The hydrophilic pipe structure's height significantly af-
fects the transportation of the droplet. As the height increases,
the contact time between the droplet and the hydrophilic pipe
moves forward, and the total contact time between the droplet
and the GDL surface is shortened. The flow velocity of the
droplets between the hydrophilic pipes decreases as the height
increases, because the droplets come into contact with the
hydrophilic pipes earlier and spread between the hydrophilic
pipes. The droplet's movement speed on the GDL surface is
faster than it is in the hydrophilic pipe structure. This occurs
because the droplet's windward area when moving on the GDL
surface is more extensive. The force of the droplet sliding
forward on the GDL surface is more significant, resulting in the
faster movement of the droplet. The results show that with a
smaller hydrophilic pipe structure, the droplet cannot contact
the hydrophilic pipe to remove the water on the GDL surface.
The greater the hydrophilic pipe's height, the lower the drop-
lets' movement speed in the flow channel. When H ¼ 400 mm,
the hydrophilic pipe structure performs better in removing
water on the GDL surface.
Fig. 6(b) shows the influence of different heights of hy-
drophilic pipes on the Y direction's velocity field. It can be
found that there is a significant difference in the velocity field
between a direct flow channel and a flow channel with a hy-
drophilic pipe. When the droplet moves in the flow channel,
the higher flow velocity area is concentrated on the droplet's
top and on the area near the flow channel's upper wall. When
the hydrophilic pipe structure moves, the high-speed zone is
mainly focused on the side close to the GDL at the initial stage.
This occurs because the hydrophilic pipe's front end trans-
forms the air velocity perpendicular to the inlet toward the
hydrophilic pipe's tangential direction, causing a local
contraction. As the droplets adhere to the hydrophilic pipe,
the flow channel's resistance decreases and the smoothness
improves, and the flow rate is mainly concentrated on the GDL
side. The height of the hydrophilic pipe has a particular
impact on the velocity field. When t ¼ 1 ms and 7 ms, as the
height increases, the flow velocity in the area between the
GDL side and the hydrophilic pipe decreases. When the
droplet moves into the hydrophilic pipe, the hydrophilic pipe
divides the flow channel into two regions. As the height in-
creases, the flow velocity on the GDL side decreases. This
occurs because as the height increases, the shrinkage area of
the lower area of the hydrophilic pipe decreases, the air tends
to flow along with the gaps between the hydrophilic pipes, and
the airflow along the tangential direction of the hydrophilic
pipe decreases, resulting in a reduction of the flow velocity on
the GDL side. The results show that as the height of the hy-
drophilic pipe decreases, the liquid water on the surface of the
GDL will stick to its surface and move, the resistance in the
flow channel increases, and the flow rate decreases, which is
not conducive to the removal of the liquid water on the GDL
surface. The greater the hydrophilic pipe's height, the lower
the airflow rate on the GDL side, and the lower the water
removal efficiency on the GDL surface.
Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
9
Fig. 7(a) shows the pressure drop comparison at different
heights. It could be found that the pressure drop of the flow
channel of the hydrophilic pipe structure is more significant
than that of the direct flow channel. Except for H ¼ 350 mm, the
pressure drop shows a tendency of first decreasing and then
remaining unchanged. As the height of the hydrophilic pipe
increases, the pressure drop increases slightly. This occurs
because the increase in height corresponds to the increase in
the resistance area in the flow channel, increasing the pressure
drop. Fig. 7(b) shows the comparison of GDL surface water
coverage at different heights. It can be seen that when
H ¼ 350 mm, the water coverage of the GDL surface is larger than
that of the direct flow channel. This occurs because the height
of the hydrophilic pipe is small when H ¼ 350 mm, and the
droplet is subjected to tangential pressure at the front end of
the hydrophilic pipe, and the contact area between the droplet
and the GDL surface increases. When the height is 400 mm,
450 mm, 500 mm, and 550 mm, the surface water coverage of the
GDL first increases and then decreases. The removal rate of
water on the GDL surface increases with the increase in height.
This is due to the increase in height, which speeds up the
droplet's point of contact with the hydrophilic pipe, which
causes the droplet to adhere to the hydrophilic pipe more
quickly, and reduces the water coverage on the GDL surface.
Influence of the spacing of hydrophilic pipe on the removal of
water from the GDL surface
The spacings of the hydrophilic pipes studied are 150 mm,
200 mm, 250 mm, 300 mm, and 350 mm. Fig. 8(a) shows the effect
of different spacings of hydrophilic pipe structures on droplet
motion. It can be seen from the figure that the spacing of the
hydrophilic pipe structure has a more significant influence on
the transportation of water. When S ¼ 150/200 mm, the droplets
adhere to the surface of the GDL and move. This occurs
because as the spacing decreases, the droplets are deformed by
the gas squeezing force in the tangential direction of the hy-
drophilic pipe. The droplet changes from a round shape to a
horizontal ellipse shape, and the relative height of the droplet
is not sufficient to cover the contact distance and reach the
hydrophilic pipe. The drops adhere to the GDL surface and flow
out of the flow channel. When S ¼ 250, 300, and 350 mm, with
the droplet's movement, the droplet finally adheres to the
hydrophilic pipe out of the flow channel. This occurs because
the spacing between the hydrophilic pipes becomes larger. The
hydrophilic pipe's squeezing force on both sides of the droplet
is greater than the intermediate squeezing force. The droplet
deforms and tends to bulge in the middle, resulting in the
droplet's relative height being large enough to cover the hy-
drophilic pipe's contact distance. The droplet therefore comes
into contact with the hydrophilic pipe. Due to the hydrophilic
pipe's capillary action, the droplet is pulled away from the GDL
surface and moves into the hydrophilic pipe to the flow
channel's outlet. As the spacing between the hydrophilic pipes
increases, the hydrophilic pipe's droplets' movement gradually
changes from sticking to three hydrophilic pipes to sticking to
a single hydrophilic pipe. The droplets vary from a liquid film
to a condensed state, and the windward area increases. The
droplets' thrust increases, increasing the droplets' flow veloc-
ity. The results show that as the spacing between the
10 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 7 e The influence of the height of the hydrophilic pipe on (a) the pressure drop in the flow channel (b) the water coverage
of GDL surface.

Fig. 8 e Comparison of (a) the predicted behavior of droplet (b) velocity field at Y direction with different spacings.

Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 9 e The influence of the spacing of the hydrophilic pipe on (a) the pressure drop in the flow channel (b) the water
coverage of GDL surface.
hydrophilic pipes decreases, the droplets will be subjected to
squeezing force, and the droplets will adhere to the surface of
the GDL and move, and the effective removal of the liquid
water on the surface of the GDL cannot be achieved. As the
spacing between the hydrophilic pipes increases, the droplets
adhere to the hydrophilic pipe and move. There will be a ten-
dency to adhere to a single hydrophilic pipe, thereby speeding
up the hydrophilic pipe's droplets' movement. When
S ¼ 350 mm, the hydrophilic pipe structure has better water
removal performance on the GDL surface.
Fig. 8(b) shows the influence of different spacing of hy-
drophilic pipes on the Y direction's velocity field. It can be
found that there is a significant difference in the velocity field
between the direct flow channel and the flow channel with the
hydrophilic pipe. When the droplet moves in the flow channel,
the higher flow velocity area is concentrated on the droplet's
top and the area near the flow channel's upper wall. When the
hydrophilic pipe structure moves, the high-speed zone is
mainly focused on the side close to the GDL at the initial stage.
This occurs because the hydrophilic pipe's front end trans-
forms the air velocity perpendicular to the inlet to the hy-
drophilic pipe's tangential direction, causing a local
contraction. As the droplets adhere to the hydrophilic pipe,
the flow channel's resistance decreases, and the smoothness
improves, and the flow rate is mainly concentrated on the GDL
side. When the spacing is 250 mm, 300 mm, and 350 mm, the
distance between the hydrophilic pipes has no apparent effect
on the flow channel's velocity field.
Fig. 9(a) shows the pressure drop comparison of different
spacings. It can be seen from the figure that the spacing be-
tween the hydrophilic pipes has a small influence on the
pressure drop of the flow channel. When the spacing is more
significant than 250 mm, the pressure drop shows a slight
downward trend with the droplets' movement. This occurs
because changing the hydrophilic pipes' spacing does not
change the flow channel's windward area. As the droplets are
pulled away from the GDL surface by the hydrophilic pipe,
they form a liquid film between the hydrophilic pipes. The
resistance is reduced, leading to a decrease in the pressure
drop. Fig. 9(b) shows the comparison of the surface water
coverage of the GDL with different spacing. It can be seen from
Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
11
the figure that changing the spacing between the hydrophilic
pipes has little impact on the removal of water on the GDL
surface. When S ¼ 150 mm and 200 mm, the droplet adheres to
the surface of the GDL and moves. This occurs because as the
spacing decreases, the droplet is deformed by the gas
squeezing force in the tangential direction of the hydrophilic
pipe. The droplet changes from a round shape to a horizontal
ellipse, and the relative height of the droplet cannot cover the
contact distance and reach the hydrophilic pipe. The drops
adhere to the GDL surface and flow out of the flow channel.
When the spacing is 250 mm, 300 mm, and 350 mm, the surface
water coverage of GDL first increases and then decreases. The
removal rate of water on the GDL surface slows as the spacing
increases. When S ¼ 300 mm, the hydrophilic pipe structure
shows better GDL surface water removal performance.
Conclusion
In this paper, the VOF method was used to carry out a three-
dimensional numerical simulation of water-gas trans-
portation in a hydrophilic pipe structure. The influence of the
hydrophilic tube structure's parameters (diameter, height,
and spacing) on the water transport and removal on the GDL
surface was explored. The conclusions are as follows:
(1) Due to the squeezing force on the droplets from both
sides of the hydrophilic pipe and the capillary action on
the surface, the droplets are pulled away from the GDL.
Compared with the traditional channel, the hydrophilic
pipe structure can effectively remove the water on the
GDL surface and reduce the water coverage of the GDL.
(2) As the hydrophilic pipe's diameter enlarges, the contact
proportion between the hydrophilic pipe and the
droplet increases. The droplet develops from aggrega-
tion to a liquid film on the hydrophilic pipe. As the
diameter increases, the flow channel's airflow resis-
tance increases, and the pressure drop increases in a
gradient. The water coverage on the surface of the GDL
first increases and then decreases. The removal rate of
water on the surface of the GDL accelerates.
12 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
(3) As the hydrophilic pipe's height increases, the move-
ment speed of the droplets slows, the resistance in the
flow channel increases, and the pressure increases.
When the height is 400 mm, 450 mm, 500 mm, and 550 mm,
the surface water coverage of the GDL first increases
and then decreases. The removal rate of water on the
GDL surface increases with the increase in height.
(4) The spacing between the hydrophilic pipes has a sig-
nificant influence on the transportation of the droplets
in the flow channel. As the spacing decreases, the
droplets adhere to the surface of the GDL and move,
causing the pores to be blocked. When the spacing is
250 mm, 300 mm, and 350 mm, the spacing between the
hydrophilic pipes has no apparent effect on the velocity
field or the pressure drop. The water coverage on the
GDL surface first increases and then decreases. The
removal rate of water on the GDL surface slows as the
spacing increases.
(5) The hydrophilic pipe structure with a diameter of
75 mm, a height of 400 mm, and spacing of 300 mm has
good GDL surface water removal performance. The
research work of this paper effectively removes liquid
water from the surface of the GDL, enables the rapid
transport of liquid water in the flow channel, improves
the reaction gas transmission, and alleviates the flow
channel flooding. These results have guiding signifi-
cance for improving the working performance of fuel
cells. The pressure drop of the flow channel of the hy-
drophilic pipe structure is much smaller than that of the
serpentine flow channel, which makes the application
of the proposed method in the conventional parallel
flow channel of the proton exchange membrane fuel
cell feasible.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
This study was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China under Grant (No. 51776089), Natural sci-
ence research projects in Jiangsu higher education in-
stitutions (18KJB470006), Zhenjiang Key R&D Program-Social
Development (SH2020006), the Open Research Subject of Key
Laboratory of Automobile Measurement and Control and
Safety (QCCK2019-004), Postgraduate Research & Practice
Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (SJCX21_1711).
references
[1] Li X, Lan S, Xu Z, et al. Thin metallic wave-like channel
bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cells:
Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
deformation behavior, formability analysis and process
design[J]. J Power Sources 2019;444(Dec.31):227217.1e9.
[2] Fan L, Niu Z, Zhang G, et al. Optimization design of the
cathode flow channel for proton exchange membrane fuel
cells[J]. Energy Convers Manag
2018;171(PT.1083e186):1813e21.
[3] Wang B, Chen W, Pan F, et al. A dot matrix and sloping baffle
cathode flow field of proton exchange membrane fuel cell[J]. J
Power Sources 2019;434(SEP.15):226741.
[4] Wan Zhongmin, Quan Wenxiang, Yang Chen,
Yan Hanzhang, Chen Xi, Huang Taiming, Wang Xiaodong,
Chan Siewhwa. Optimal design of a novel M-like channel in
bipolar plates of proton exchange membrane fuel cell based
on minimum entropy generation[J]. Energy Convers Manag
2020:205.
[5] B G Z A , B H Y , B Y W , et al. Three-dimensional simulation
of a new cooling strategy for proton exchange membrane
fuel cell stack using a non-isothermal multiphase model[J].
Appl Energy, 255:113865-113865.
[6] Hasheminasab M, Kermani MJ, Nourazar SS, et al. A novel
experimental based statistical study for water management
in proton exchange membrane fuel cells[J]. Appl Energy
2020;264:114713.
[7] Wu Y, Meyer Q, Liu F, et al. Investigation of water generation
and accumulation in polymer electrolyte fuel cells using
hydro-electrochemical impedance imaging[J]. J Power
Sources 2019;414(FEB.28):272e7.
[8] Nagai Y, Eller J, Hatanaka T, et al. Improving water
management in fuel cells through microporous layer
modifications: fast operando tomographic imaging of liquid
water[J]. J Power Sources
2019;435(SEP.30):226809.1e226809.11.
[9] Fu Ya-Lu, Zhang Biao, Zhu Xun, et al. Pore-scale modeling of
oxygen transport in the catalyst layer of air-breathing
cathode in membraneless microfluidic fuel cells277; 2020.
[10] Ijaodola OS, El-Hassan Z, Ogungbemi E, et al. Energy
efficiency improvements by investigating the water flooding
management on proton exchange membrane fuel cell
(PEMFC)[J]. Energy 2019;179(JUL.15):246e67.
[11] Li WZ, Yang WW, Wang N, et al. Optimization of blocked
channel design for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell by
coupled genetic algorithm and three-dimensional CFD
modeling[J]. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2020;45(35).
[12] Wu Y, Cho JIS, Lu X, et al. Effect of compression on the water
management of polymer electrolyte fuel cells: an in-
operando neutron radiography study[J]. J Power Sources
2018;412(FEB.1):597e605.
[13] Paria R, Logan B, Ryan A, et al. Investigation of time
dependent water droplet dynamics on porous fuel cell
material via synchrotron based X-ray imaging technique[J].
Exp Therm Fluid Sci 2018;97:237e45.
[14] Zhao J, Jian Q, Huang Z. Visualization study on enhancing
water transport of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with
a dead-ended anode by generating fluctuating flow at anode
compartment[J]. Energy Convers Manag 2020;206:112477.
[15] Rahimi-Esbo M, Ramiar A, Ranjbar AA, et al. Design,
manufacturing, assembling and testing of a transparent PEM
fuel cell for investigation of water management and contact
resistance at dead-end mode[J]. Int J Hydrogen Energy
2017;42(16):11673e88.
[16] Nishida K, Taniguchi R, Ishizaki Y, et al. Impacts of channel
wettability and flow direction on liquid water transport in
the serpentine flow field of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell[J]. J
Power Sources 2015;275:447e57.
[17] Wu Y, Cho JIS, Neville TP, et al. Effect of serpentine flow-field
design on the water management of polymer electrolyte fuel
cells: an in-operando neutron radiography study[J]. J Power
Sources 2018;399:254e63.
 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
[18] Cho JIS, Neville TP, Trogadas P, et al. Visualization of liquid
water in a lung-inspired flow-field based polymer electrolyte
membrane fuel cell via neutron radiography[J]. Energy
2019;170(MAR.1):14e21.
[19] Cho JIS, Neville TP, Trogadas P, et al. Capillaries for water
management in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells[J].
Int J Hydrogen Energy 2018;43(48):21949e58.
[20] Bachman J, Charvet M, Santamaria A, et al. Experimental
investigation of the effect of channel length on performance
and water accumulation in a PEMFC parallel flow field[J]. Int J
Hydrogen Energy 2012;37(22):17172e9.
[21] Bozorgnezhad A, Shams M, Kanani H, et al. Two-phase flow
and droplet behavior in microchannels of PEM fuel cell[J]. Int
J Hydrogen Energy 2016;41(42):19164e81.
[22] Martens I, Vamvakeros A, Chattot R, et al. X-ray transparent
proton-exchange membrane fuel cell design for in situ wide
and small angle scattering tomography[J]. J Power Sources
2019;437:226906.
[23] Paria R, Logan B, Ryan A, et al. Investigation of time
dependent water droplet dynamics on porous fuel cell
material via synchrotron based X-ray imaging technique[J].
Exp Therm Fluid Sci 2018;97:237e45.
[24] Jo JH, Kim WT. Numerical simulation of water droplet
dynamics in a right angle gas channel of a polymer
electrolyte membrane fuel cell[J]. Int J Hydrogen Energy
2015;40(26):8368e83.
[25] Song M, Kim HY, Kim K. Effects of hydrophilic/hydrophobic
properties of gas flow channels on liquid water transport in a
serpentine polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell[J]. Int J
Hydrogen Energy 2014;39(34):19714e21.
[26] Qin Y, Li X, Jiao K, et al. Effective removal and transport of
water in a PEM fuel cell flow channel having a hydrophilic
plate[J]. Appl Energy 2014;113(1):116e26.
[27] Qin Y, Li X, Du Q, et al. Effect of wettability on water removal
from the gas diffusion layer surface in a novel proton
exchange membrane fuel cell flow channel[J]. Int J Hydrogen
Energy 2013;38(29):12879e85.
[28] Qin Yanzhou, Du Qing, Yin Yan, Jiao Kui, Li Xianguo. Numerical
investigation of water dynamics in a novel proton exchange
membrane fuel cell flow channel[J]. J Power Sources 2013:222.
[29] Yanzhou Q, Yan Y, Kui J, et al. Effects of needle orientation
and gas velocity on water transport and removal in a
modified PEMFC gas flow channel having a hydrophilic
needle[J]. Int J Energy Res 2019;43.
[30] Yanzhou Q, Xuefeng W, Rouxian C, et al. Water transport
and removal in PEMFC gas flow channel with various water
droplet locations and channel surface wettability[J]. Energies
2018;11(4):880.
[31] Xie X, et al. Effects of microstructure shape parameters on
water removal in a PEMFC lotus-like flow channel. Int J
Please cite this article as: Liu S et al., Effect of hydrophilic pipe structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell on water removal from
the gas diffusion layer surface, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.06.175
13
Hydrogen Energy 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.ijhydene.2020.10.239. In press.
[32] Chen Rouxian, Qin Yanzhou, Ma Suhui, Du Qing. Numerical
simulation of liquid water emerging and transport in the
flow channel of PEMFC using the volume of fluid method[J].
Int J Hydrogen Energy 2019:360e3199.
[33] Lei H, Huang H, Li C, et al. Numerical simulation of water
droplet transport characteristics in cathode channel of
proton exchange membrane fuel cell with tapered slope
structures[J]. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2020;45(53):29331e44.
[34] A I S A, A Y H, B F X, et al. Comparative analysis of two-phase
flow in sinusoidal channel of different geometric
configurations with application to PEMFC[J]. Int J Hydrogen
Energy 2019;44(26):13807e19.
[35] Anyanwu IS, Hou Y, Chen W, et al. Numerical investigation
of liquid water transport dynamics in novel hybrid
sinusoidal flow channel designs for PEMFC[J]. Energies
2019;12(21):4030.
[36] Niu Z, Fan L, Bao Z, et al. Numerical investigation of
innovative 3D cathode flow channel in proton exchange
membrane fuel cell[J]. Int J Energy Res 2018;42(4).
[37] Li Z , Wang S , Li W , et al. Droplet dynamics in a proton
exchange membrane fuel cell flow field design with 3D
geometry[J]. Int J Hydrogen Energy, 2021(50).
[38] Bao Z, Niu Z, Jiao K. Analysis of single- and two-phase flow
characteristics of 3-D fine mesh flow field of proton exchange
membrane fuel cells[J]. J Power Sources
2019;438(Oct.31):226995.1e226995.10.
[39] Brackbill JU, Kothe DB, Zemach C. A continuum method for
modeling surface tension[J]. J.comp.phys
1992;100(2):335e54.
[40] Kim J, Luo G, Wang CY. Modeling two-phase flow in three-
dimensional complex flow-fields of proton exchange
membrane fuel cells[J]. J Power Sources
2017;365(oct.15):419e29.
[41] Cho SC, Wang Y, Chen KS. Droplet dynamics in a polymer
electrolyte fuel cell gas flow channel: forces, deformation,
and detachment. I: theoretical and numerical analyses[J]. J
Power Sources 2012;206(MAY 15):119e28.
[42] Sun Y, Bao C, Jiang Z, et al. A two-dimensional numerical
study of liquid water breakthrough in gas diffusion layer
based on phase field method[J]. J Power Sources
2020;448(Feb.1):227352.1e9.
[43] Niblett D, Mularczyk A, Niasar V, et al. Two-phase flow
dynamics in a gas diffusion layer - gas channel - microporous
layer system[J]. J Power Sources 2020;471:228427.
[44] Chen R, Qin Y, Ma S, et al. Numerical simulation of liquid
water emerging and transport in the flow channel of PEMFC
using the volume of fluid method - ScienceDirect[J]. Int J
Hydrogen Energy 2019;45(54):29861e73.