微重力水电解槽两相热流动与水量分配数值模拟

Water electrolysis technology is a green-hydrogen process, and it is also a critical oxygen filling technology for medium- and long-term manned space missions. To study the effect of gravity on the performance of solid polymer water electrolyzer, the 3D two-phase model and the system model of electrolyzer were established. The water distribution, flow and temperature field were simulated and the effects of microgravity and normal-gravity on the electrolyzer were analyzed. When the electrolyzer placed in microgravity or horizontally, the numerical simulation of the electrolyzer with single-cell showed that the flow and the temperature fields in the electrolyzer are distributed uniformly. However, when the electrolyzer was placed vertically and water supplied horizontally, the water shortage appeared in the electrolyzer due to the oxygen gathered in the upper part. The numerical simulation of the system model indicated that the water distribution of the system is nonuniforni in both normal-gravity and microgravity conditions. When the electrolyzer system was placed horizontally, the system flow rates firstly decrease then increase from the bottom cell to the top cell. While when the electrolyzer system was placed in microgravity or vertically, the system flow rates always increase from the bottom cell to the top cell.