Water electrolysis
Joint project with International Max Planck Research School (2019-2022)
Water electrolysis is one of the key processes for the reliable and efficient production of hydrogen from liquid water. We study the transport processes in the anodic porous transport layer (PTL) with pore network models for the first time. For this, we use the information about the real structure of the PTL from micro X-ray tomography measurements. We simulate 3D quasi-static invasion of oxygen (drainage) and water (imbibition) on the pore scale and estimate the effective transport parameters for macroscopic modeling. We plan to illustrate the dependence of the gas-liquid distribution on the structure, wettability and temperature variation. We also aim at the development of a dynamic pore scale model of heat and mass transfer.
Relevant Publications:
1. Vorhauer, N.; Altaf, H.; Tsotsas, E.; Vidakovic-Koch, T. (2019) Pore network simulation of gas-liquid distribution in porous transport layers, Processes 2019, 7(9), 558; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7090558
2. Altaf, H.; Vorhauer, N.; Tsotsas, E.; Vidakovic-Koch, T. Pore network study of primary hydrophilic drainage related to oxygen invasion in anodic porous transport layers of water electrolysis, to be submitted to Processes (2019)
