Pucheng Pei

Dendrite growth in the recharging process of zinc- air batteries

To improve the cycling performance of rechargeable zinc–air batteries, the dendritic morphology of electrodeposited zinc should be effectively controlled. It is of crucial importance to understand the formation mechanism of the zinc dendritic structure. Here we show that an electrochemical phase-field model is established to simulate dendrite growth of electrodeposited zinc, and several measures including the pulsating current and the electrolyte flow are taken to suppress dendrite growth in the charging process. The results demonstrate that dendrite propagation is mainly controlled by diffusion dependent on overpotential and surface energy anisotropy, and dendritic morphology can also give rise to non-uniform distribution of the electric field and ion concentration in the electrolyte. The proposed model and solutions will be available for studying dendrite growth of metal–air batteries as well as metal electrodeposition.

Dynamic Response during PEM Fuel Cell Loading-up

A study on the effects of controlling and operating parameters for a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell on the dynamic phenomena during the loading-up process is presented. The effect of the four parameters of load-up amplitudes and rates, operating pressures and current levels on gas supply or even starvation in the flow field is analyzed based accordingly on the transient characteristics of current output and voltage. Experiments are carried out in a single fuel cell with an active area of 285 cm2. The results show that increasing the loading-up amplitude can inevitably increase the possibility of gas starvation in channels when a constant flow rate has been set for the cathode; With a higher operating pressure, the dynamic performance will be improved and gas starvations can be relieved. The transient gas supply in the flow channel during two loading-up mode has also been discussed. The experimental results will be helpful for optimizing the control and operation strategies for PEM fuel cells in vehicles.

Asymptotic Analysis Soot Model and Experiment for a Directed Injection Engine

The existing soot models are either too complex and can not be applied to the internal combustion engine, or too simple to make calculation errors. Exploring the soot model becomes the pursuit of the goal of many researchers within the error range in the current computer speed. On the basis of the latest experimental results, TP (temperature phases) model is presented as a new soot model to carry out optimization calculation for a high-pressure common rail diesel engine. Temperature and excess air factor are the most important two parameters in this model. When zone temperature T<1 500 K and excess air factor Φ>0.6, only the soot precursors—polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAH) is created and there is no soot emission. When zone temperature T ⩾ 1 500 K and excess air factor Φ<0.6, PAHs and soot source terms (particle inception, surface growth, oxidation, coagulation) are calculated. The TP model is then implemented in KIVA code instead of original model to carry out optimizing. KIVA standard model and experimental data are analyzed for the results of cylinder pressures, the corresponding heat release rates, and soot with variation of injection time, variation of rail pressure and variation of speed among TP models. The experimental results indicate that the TP model can carry out optimization and computational fluid dynamics can be a tool to calculate for a high-pressure common rail directed injection diesel engine. The TP model result is closer than the use of the original KIVA-3V results of soot model accuracy by about 50% and TP model gives a new method for engine researchers.

Magnetic field induced motion behavior of gas bubbles in liquid.

The oxygen evolution reaction generally exists in electrochemical reactions. It is a ubiquitous problem about how to control the motion of oxygen bubbles released by the reaction. Here we show that oxygen bubbles during oxygen evolution reaction exhibit a variety of movement patterns in the magnetic field, including directional migration and rotational motion of oxygen bubbles when the magnet in parallel with the electrode, and exclusion movement of oxygen bubbles when the magnet perpendicular to the electrode. The results demonstrate that the direction of oxygen bubbles movement is dependent upon the magnet pole near the electrode, and the kinetics of oxygen bubbles is mainly proportional to intensity of the electromagnetic field. The magnetic-field induced rotational motion of oxygen bubbles in a square electrolyzer can increase liquid hydrodynamics, thus solve the problems of oxygen bubbles coalescence, and uneven distribution of electrolyte composition and temperature. These types of oxygen bubbles movement will not only improve energy saving and metal deposition for energy storage and metal refinery, but also propel object motion in application to medical and martial fields.

Simulation and experiment for oxygen-enriched combustion engine using liquid oxygen to solidify CO2

For capturing and recycling of CO2 in the internal combustion engine, Rankle cycle engine can reduce the exhaust pollutants effectively under the condition of ensuring the engine thermal efficiency by using the techniques of spraying water in the cylinder and optimizing the ignition advance angle. However, due to the water spray nozzle need to be installed on the cylinder, which increases the cylinder head design difficulty and makes the combustion conditions become more complicated. In this paper, a new method is presented to carry out the closing inlet and exhaust system for internal combustion engines. The proposed new method uses liquid oxygen to solidify part of cooled CO2 from exhaust system into dry ice and the liquid oxygen turns into gas oxygen which is sent to inlet system. The other part of CO2 is sent to inlet system and mixed with oxygen, which can reduce the oxygen-enriched combustion detonation tendency and make combustion stable. Computing grid of the IP52FMI single-cylinder four-stroke gasoline-engine is established according to the actual shape of the combustion chamber using KIVA-3V program. The effects of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate are analyzed on the temperatures, the pressures and the instantaneous heat release rates when the EGR rate is more than 8%. The possibility of enclosing intake and exhaust system for engine is verified. The carbon dioxide trapping device is designed and the IP52FMI engine is transformed and the CO2 capture experiment is carried out. The experimental results show that when the EGR rate is 36% for the optimum EGR rate. When the liquid oxygen of 35.80–437.40 g is imported into the device and last 1–20 min, respectively, 21.50–701.30 g dry ice is obtained. This research proposes a new design method which can capture CO2 for vehicular internal combustion engine.

Study on EGR Control Strategy for Vehicle Diesel Engine Based on Experiment

To carry out electronic control EGR strategy in diesel engine the calculation model using GT-POWER is built. The thesis uses simulation software GT-POWER to establish the calculation model of 4JB1 intake system of turbocharged diesel engine with EGR system and the results agree well. According to the simulation results, it can predict the main performance indicators of the diesel engine when it works at the maximum torque condition, which includes A/F, IMEP, Maximum Pressure, and Intake Pressure and so on. Then after controlling the volume of gas by modifying the EGR valve, it can find out the regulation how EGR effects the engines emissions, torque, power and the inlet temperature of turbo. Referring to the simulation results, it includes from four aspects：EGR can significantly improve the quality of emission gas; NOx and PM have a trade-off relationship; applying higher EGR rate in heavy load can lead to the low torque and power less; the inlet temperature of turbo increases with the augment of EGR rate. In the experiment, the inlet oxygen concentration method is used to determine the EGR rate, and to realize it, the oxygen concentration detection module is also successful designed. Then a close-loop control strategy is proposed based on the EGR rate. It proves it is feasible to guide the ECU programmer development by the simulation results of engine control strategy. It is also can be referred by other engine control systems development.

Simulation and Experimental Research on Species in Direct-Injection Diesel Engine

To simulate the combustion species for direct-injection diesel engines, the new flamelet model is presented and used. The model is based on stoichiometric mixture fraction space, and a way of separating the numerical effort associated with the solution of the turbulent flow field from that of solving the chemistry is offered. The new species equations are carried out through coordinates transformation. The results from the species equation are developed and three-dimension entity model with the mixture fraction is got. Then the boundary conditions are put into the new flamelet model. Furthermore the pollutions emissions are calculated and compared with the experimental data. It gives a new way to predict the pollutants for direct-injection diesel engine.

Mechanisms of Accelerated Degradation in the Front Cells of PEMFC Stacks and Some Mitigation Strategies

The accelerated degradation in the front cells of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) stack seriously reduces the reliability and durability of the whole stack. Most researches only focus on the size and configuration of the gas intake manifold, which may lead to the maldistribution of flow and pressure. In order to find out the mechanisms of the accelerated degradation in the front cells, an extensive program of experimental and simulation work is initiated and the results are reported. It is found that after long-term lifetime tests the accelerated degradation in the front cells occurs in all three fuel cell stacks with different flow-fields under the U-type feed configuration. Compared with the rear cells of the stack, the voltage of the front cells is much lower at the same current densities and the membrane electrode assembly(MEA) has smaller active area, more catalyst particle agglomeration and higher ohmic impedance. For further investigation, a series of three dimensional isothermal numerical models are built to investigate the degradation mechanisms based on the experimental data. The simulation results reveal that the dry working condition of the membrane and the effect of high-speed gas scouring the MEA are the main causes of the accelerated degradation in the front cells of a PEM fuel cell stack under the U-type feed configuration. Several mitigation strategies that would mitigate these phenomena are presented: removing cells that have failed and replacing them with those of the same aging condition as the average of the stack; choosing a Z-type feed pattern instead of a U-type one; putting several air flow-field plates without MEA in the front of the stack; or exchanging the gas inlet and outlet alternately at a certain interval. This paper specifies the causes of the accelerated degradation in the front cells and provides the mitigation strategies.

Pre-Heat and Start-Up Process of High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

High temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) advances the applications of fuel cells in automobile applications, and smooth start-up is one of the critical topics in researches. This work utilizes four pre-heat fluid mediums, i.e. water, silicone oil, liquid paraffin and air, to examine the pre-heat and start-up performance of single HT-PEMFC. Experimental temperature data at 10 different locations on upper side of bipolar plates matches well with that of simulation. The results show preheating in liquid phase meets the requirements of start-up, but leads to instability in the system. So liquid cannot be employed for pre-heat. On the contrary, preheating by gas phase will achieve good start-up performance, and may be used for hybrid electric vehicle (HEV).

Study for Three-Dimensional Design of the Engine Crankshaft Piston Group

In order to establish the three-dimensional model of the crankshaft piston group, the application of characteristic modeling method was proposed directly through the designer to extract features from the BULL operations, and finally form a part model of the design and definition. Analysis of the expression of the crankshaft features and characteristics of the link, use Pro-E to build a diesel engine crankshaft and the piston rod group of feature modeling. a new three-dimensional assembly drawings was built. It provide a new design ideas for reserachers.