The Effect of Flow Field Design Parameters on the Performance of PEMFC: A Review

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell is essentially utilized to generate energy with zero emission. There are many drawbacks in PEMFC, such as the mal-distribution of reactants, water management between the catalyst layer and the GDL, and the mass transport issue of reactants. Flow field design parameters can overcome these problems to improve cell performance. Where the flow field is an essential element of the fuel cell, and it is designed to provide the required amount of both hydrogen and oxygen with the lowest possible pressure drop on the anode and cathode sides, respectively. In this paper, the cell performance with different flow field design parameters, such as conventional flow field configuration, nature-inspired flow field configuration, and geometric parameters, as well as their modifications, is reviewed in detail. It has been demonstrated through the current review paper that the flow field design parameters can significantly affect the overall behavior of PEMFC, and each design parameter has advantages and disadvantages that make the flow fields suitable for specific applications.