The effects of flow field design on PEMFC

Abstract

The flow field design plays a crucial role in the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). An efficient flow field design enhances electrochemical reactions in catalyst layers and facilitates the water removal process at the cathode. This study evaluates two PEMFC designs, rectangular and semicircle baffle flow fields, using computational fluid dynamics modeling. The models incorporate mass, heat and energy transport, electrode kinetics, and potential fields in PEMFCs. The research analyzes the hydrogen and oxygen mass flow rates and water distributions in PEMFCs at operating voltages of 0.3–1 V to determine the effect of the flow field design on performance. According to the results it is clear that flow field design has an important influence on PEMFC power density and performance. The calculated power density at 0.3 V and at 80°C for semicircle and rectangular baffle flow field PEMFCs respectively are 0.37 and 0.23 W cm−2, which indicates that PEMFC with semicircle baffle flow field has better performance in this study.