A combined finite element-upwind finite volume method for liquid-feed direct methanol fuel cell simulations

Pengtao Sun, Chaoyang Wang, Jinchao Xu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this paper, a three-dimensional, two-phase transport model of liquid-feed direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), which is based on the multiphase mixture formulation and encompasses all components in a DMFC using a single computational domain, is specifically studied and simulated by a combined finite element-upwind finite volume discretization along with Newton's method, where flow, species, charge-transport, and energy equations are simultaneously addressed. Numerical simulations in three dimensions are carried out to explore and design efficient and robust numerical algorithms for the sake of fast and convergent nonlinear iteration. A series of efficient numerical algorithms and discretizations is specifically designed and analyzed to assist in achieving this goal. Our numerical simulations demonstrate that the convergent and correct physical solutions can be attained within 100 more steps, against the oscillating and long-running nonlinear iterations (up to 5000 steps) performed by standard finite element/volume method without new numerical techniques. Copyright © 2010 by ASME.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)0410101-04101014
Number of pages3690914
JournalJournal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 2010
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

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