Study on the effect of static magnetic field strength and arrangement on the working performance of PEMFC with different flow fields

Abstract

This study explores the impact of magnetic fields on the operation and performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with various flow fields. Different positions and intensities of magnetic fields were applied to investigate their effects. The performance of PEMFCs with different flow fields was then tested under different magnetic field strengths and arrangements. The experimental results demonstrate that, under the same conditions, the power density of the PEMFCs increases when subjected to magnetic fields of varying strengths (180mT, 220mT, and 260mT) compared to no magnetic field. Furthermore, the maximum power density of the cells increases with higher applied magnetic field strengths. The experiments also compared the performance of the fuel cell's cathode, anode, and bipolar operations with magnetic field arrangements in different flow fields. The results reveal that the performance enhancement of the fuel cell with magnetic field arrangement in the cathode is greater than that with magnetic field arrangement in the anode and bipolar. Specifically, when a magnetic field of 260mT is loaded onto the cathode for fuel cells with parallel, wave, and M−type flow fields, the maximum power density (MPD) increases by 55%, 23.9%, and 23.22%, respectively. In conclusion, the utilization of magnetic fields can enhance the performance of PEMFCs under operating conditions.

Keywords

• PEMFC
• Static magnetic field strength and arrangement
• Flow field
• Operating performance