Numerical study on permeability of gas diffusion layer with porosity gradient using lattice Boltzmann method

In this paper, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has been employed to explore the permeability and internal fluid flow behavior of the gas diffusion layer (GDL). Three different non-uniform porosity distributions are designed as linear type, stepped type, and transitional type and compared with constant porosity samples. Results show that the linear porosity gradient distribution leads to higher permeability values compared with the other two types. For samples with total porosity of 0.65 and 0.75, optimal porosity gradient distributions bring about an enhancement of permeability have been found. The impact of porosity gradient distribution on the velocity field is presented. Dependencies of permeability with porosity and tortuosity are demonstrated through several fitted equations. (c) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this paper, the lattice Boltzmann method was used to investigate the permeability and internal fluid behavior of the gas diffusion layer. It was found that a linear porosity gradient distribution resulted in higher permeability values compared to other types, and optimal porosity gradient distributions at specific porosities led to enhanced permeability.