Effects of Geometrical Parameters of Gas Flow Channels on Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Performance

Abstract

In the present study, the effects of geometrical properties of gas flow channels on both current density and temperature distributions inside a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell are investigated. The main purpose here is to clarify the effects of the variation of width, depth, and the ribs of flow channels on the fuel cell performance. To do this, the fuel cell is numerically simulated in two dimensions. The governing equations consist of the conservation of the electrical potential, Darcy’s law as alternative to the momentum equation, Maxwell-Stefan equation for mass transport, energy conservation, and electro-thermal equations along with the Butler–Volmer equation. Numerical results indicate that the width of channels and their ribs have more sensible effects than the depth of flow channels on the current density and temperature distributions and fuel cell performance. While the maximum temperature of the cell is increased by increasing the width of the flow channels, the current density distribution and fuel cell performance can be improved. By decreasing the width of their ribs or depth of channels, the performance of the fuel cell is improved and its maximum temperature is decreased.

Keywords

• polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell
• membrane
• electrodes
• current density
• temperature distribution