Experimental Investigation on the Anode Flow Field Design for an Air-Cooled Open-Cathode Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Abstract

A flow channel structure design plays a significant role in an open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The cell performance is sensitive to the structural parameters of the flow field, which mainly affects the heat and mass transfer between membrane electrode assembly and channel. This paper presents theoretical and experimental studies to investigate the impacts of anode flow field parameters (numbers of the serpentine channels, depths, and widths of the anode channel) on cell performance and temperature characteristics. The result indicates that the number of anode serpentine channels adjusts the pressure and flow rate of hydrogen in the anode flow channel effectively. The depth and width of the channel change the pressure, flow rate, and mass transfer capacity of hydrogen, especially under the high current density. There appears the best depth to achieve optimum cell performance. The velocity and concentration of hydrogen have important influences on the mass transfer which agrees with the anode channel structure design and performance changes based on the field synergy principle. This research has great significance for further understanding the relationship between anode flow field design and fuel cell performance in the open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack.

Innovative Approaches to Enhance the Performance and Durability of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

“…In recent years, new flow field designs have been released in an effort to improve water management in PEMFCs, reduce flooding, and improve mass transit. These innovative patterns aim to overcome the shortcomings of traditional flow field designs including serpentine and parallel flow fields while enhancing the performance and durability [24].…”

Pore-Scale Modeling of Liquid Water Transport in Compressed Gas Diffusion Layer of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Considering Fiber Anisotropy

“…The contact angle of the carbon fiber is set to 120 • [37,38], corresponding to w = 0.013, while the ribs are set to be slightly hydrophobic with a contact angle of 110 • [35], corresponding to w = 0.010. The computational domain adopted in the simulation work is the 2D porous GDL with cross-sections selected from the 3D GDL of 2000 × 2000 × 197 µm 3 . The complete computational domain shown in Figure 2 contains the GDL, ribs, and gas channel (GC), with a computational domain size of 2000 × 500 lu 2 ; here, 1 lu represents 1 µm [35][36][37].…”

“…The main role of the proton exchange membrane in a fuel cell is to achieve rapid proton conduction and also to block the permeation of hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen between the cathode and anode. Ideal proton exchange membranes need to have high proton conductivity; low electron conductivity; low gas permeability; and good chemical, electrochemical, and thermal stability [ 3 ]. Suitable water management is required to keep the proton exchange membrane humidified to enhance proton conduction and ensure proton exchange membrane performance [ 4 ].…”