Performance Improvement of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell by Modified Flow Field Design
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 5
Abstract
The power output of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is built upon the uniform distribution of reacting gases and the mitigation of flooding of water on the cathode side of the fuel cell. This paper proposes a new flow field, which was modified from conventional serpentine flow fields (SFFs) by dividing the channel into three segments. In each of the segments, the flow channel length was decreased and increased gradually. This new modified flow field (MFF) was compared with SFF, both numerically and experimentally. Numerical and experimental investigations were carried out for an active area of . The MFF created an even distribution of gases and better water management than the SFF on PEMFCs. From the study, it is found that the new MFF improved power output compared to SFFs in numerical simulation and experimental analysis.
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Data Availability Statement
All data and models used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank AICTE, New Delhi, RPS project File No. 8-33/RIFD/RPS/POLICY-1/2016-17, and Nandha Engineering College, Erode, India, for their support of this work.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 5 • October 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 16, 2022
Accepted: May 22, 2023
Published online: Jul 25, 2023
Published in print: Oct 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Dec 25, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Channel flow
- Chemical properties
- Chemistry
- Dissolved gases
- Energy engineering
- Energy sources (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Environmental engineering
- Flow (fluid dynamics)
- Fluid dynamics
- Fluid mechanics
- Gases
- Hydro power
- Hydrologic engineering
- Membranes
- Methodology (by type)
- Models (by type)
- Numerical analysis
- Numerical methods
- Numerical models
- Renewable energy
- Structural engineering
- Structural members
- Structural systems
- Water and water resources
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