This paper studied the breakthrough pressure for liquid water to penetrate the gas diffusion layer(GDL) of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC).An ex-situ testing was conducted on a transparent test cell to visualize the water droplet formation and detachment on the surface of different types of GDLs through a CCD camera.The breakthrough pressure,at which the liquid water penetrates the GDL and starts to form a droplet,was measured.The breakthrough pressure was found to be different for the GDLs with different porosities and thicknesses.The equilibrium pressure,which is defined as the minimum pressure required maintaining a constant flow through the GDL,was also recorded.The equilibrium pressure was found to be much lower than the breakthrough pressure for the same type of GDL.A pore network model was modified to further study the relationship between the breakthrough pressure and the GDL properties and thicknesses.The breakthrough pressure increases for the thick GDL with smaller micro-pore size.
A new mass transfer model is developped to predict the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from fresh wet building materials. The dry section of wet materials during the process of VOC emission from wet building materials is considered in this new model, differing from the mass transfer-based models in other literatures. The mechanism of effect of saturated vapor pressure on the surface of wet building materials in the process of VOC emission is discussed. The concentration of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) in the building materials gradually decreases as the emission of VOCs begins, and the vapor pressure of VOCs on the surface of wet building materials decreases in the case of newly wet building materials. To ensure the partial pressure of VOCs on the surface of wet building materials to be saturated vapor pressure, the interface of gas-wet layer is lowered, and a dry layer of no-volatile gases in the material is formed. Compared with the results obtained by VB model, CFD model and the experiment data, the results obtained by the present model agree well with the results obtained by CFD model and the experiment data. The present model is more accurate in predicting emission of VOC from wet building materials than VB model.
An experimental system of flat plate pulsating heat pipe was established and experimental research was carried out in this system to know the mechanism of heat transfer, start-up and operating characteristics. The factors, such as filling rate, heating power, heating method etc, which have great influence on the thermal performance of the plate pulsating heat pipe were discussed. The results indicate that heating power and filling rate are the important factors for the start-up of the plate pulsating heat pipe. The different start-up power is needed with different filling rate, and the start-up of the heat pipe in case of bottom heated is much easier than that of top heated. Increasing the heating power and enlarging the heating area can make the start-up easier. Heating power can also affect the start-up time of heat pipe under the condition of bottom heated, while it does not have some influence to the heat pipe of top heated. The thermal resistance of plate pulsating heat pipe is related with the heating power, and the higher the heating power is, the smaller the thermal resistance is. But the best filling rate which the heat pipe needs is different with different heating methods, and the performance of the heat pipe in the case of bottom heated is better than the others.
