Optimization and evaluation criteria of water-gas transport performance in wave flow channel for proton exchange membrane fuel cell

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2023-06, Vol.48 (54), p.20717-20733
• Main Authors: Zhou, Yu, Chen, Ben, Meng, Kai, Zhou, Haoran, Chen, Wenshang, Zhang, Ning, Deng, Qihao, Yang, Guanghua, Tu, Zhengkai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Evaluation criteria; PEMFC; Size ratio; Water-gas transport; Wave flow channel
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.03.017

Flow channel optimization is an important method to improve the water-gas transport capacity and enhance the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In this study, the size ratio of the opposite sinusoidal wave flow channel (OSWFC) is optimized, and three-dimensional numerical models are developed to evaluate the comprehensive performance. The results show that OSWFCs obtain performance enhancement compared to the parallel flow channel. 1:1 wave channel has a maximum improvement of 19.53% in mass transfer capacity by the most frequent flow disturbance, while 1:3 has a maximum increasement of 37.5% in water removal performance by the virtue of gentle wave structure. Large pressure loss decreases the mass transfer efficiency, although it with the maximum mass transfer capacity, the mass transfer evaluation criterion of 1:1 wave channel is less than that of 1:3. Moreover, a significant correlation between water-gas transport capacity and electrochemical performance is demonstrated by Pearson correlation coefficient. [Display omitted] •The OSWFC has a significant performance enhancement at high current densities.•The wave flow channel with ratio of 1:1 has the best mass transfer capacity.•The wave flow channel with ratio of 1:3 has the best water removal performance.•MTEC is proposed to evaluate the mass transfer efficiency.•PCC is proposed to evaluate the comprehensive performance of PEMFC.