Research on performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with an innovative flow field

Abstract

The mass transfer enhanced cathode flow field with little pressure loss is a key factor to proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) design. A new type of cathode flow field incorporating ship-shaped baffles which enhances mass transfer while causes little parasitic power is proposed in this study. Effects of length, breadth, molded depth, liquid level height and draft depth of the ship-like baffle on water removal in flow field and PEMFC performance are investigated numerically. Results show that ship-like baffles could accelerate water removal. Slim baffle with big surface helps to break droplets into smaller ones. Ship-like baffles also help to pushed reactant downward and distributed reactant evenly, especially in area under ribs. Sloping “bow” of baffle helps to enhance mass transfer downward and sloping “stern” of baffle helps to further split the droplets already divided by baffles into smaller ones and throw them into the upper part of the channel. In general, the proposed flow field with ship-like baffles shows a good performance in PEMFC mass transfer.

Keywords

• Baffle
• Ship-like
• Mass transfer
• Water motion
• Optimization