COMPUTATIONAL MODELING OF FLOW AND SPECIES DISTRIBUTION IN A MEMBRANELESS FUEL CELL WITH POROUS ELECTRODES

In this paper, a computational model of flow and species distribution in a microfluidic fuel cell with a flow-through porous electrode was carried out for various parameters. Such parameters include the Reynolds number and the channel height. The governing transport equations within the porous media were written according to the volume-average theory. The governing equations were solved using a finite element formulation based on the Galerkin method of weighted residuals. The results of this investigation illustrated that the channel height and Reynolds number have a profound effect on the flow and species characteristics within the fuel cell. This preliminary work shows that inertial effects can play a significant role in enhancing the performance of a microfluidic device.