Study of new flow field geometries to enhance water redistribution and pressure head losses reduction within PEM fuel cell

Efficiency of fuel cell is dependent on reactant distribution, products evacuation, pressure losses and many of these factors is dependent on the design of flow field plate. With an effective design, reactant distribution, pressure drop, and water and heat management can be further improved. In this...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of hydrogen energy 2021-02, Vol.46 (10), p.7489-7501
Main Authors: Chadha, Kush, Martemianov, Serguei, Thomas, Anthony
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Electrochemical noise
Flow field geometry
PEM fuel cell
Physics
Pressure head losses
Statistical descriptors
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Summary:Efficiency of fuel cell is dependent on reactant distribution, products evacuation, pressure losses and many of these factors is dependent on the design of flow field plate. With an effective design, reactant distribution, pressure drop, and water and heat management can be further improved. In this work, two new designs, as multi-serpentine set-up with additional slots and hybrid geometry, on stainless steel bipolar plates, are presented. Electrical performance, and pressure head losses are analyzed by electrochemical methods such as polarization curve and use of electrochemical noise as a diagnostic tool to further understand the impact of water management on performance. On the one hand, multi-serpentine design shows the best electrical performance with an increase of 0.2 V (66%) at 0.9 A/cm2 in comparison of traditional serpentine design. On the other hand, hybrid design reveals the lowest pressure head losses, with a decrease of 2 mbar (about 50%) in comparison of traditional serpentine design, and a higher stability with time that can be useful to downsize compressor and provide lower impact on fuel cell stack durability. •Two new flow field plates designs, multi-serpentine and hybrid, are presented.•New flow field designs enhance water distribution and reduce pressure head losses.•An electrical performance increase of 66% is founded with multi-serpentine set-up.•Hybrid design setup highlights a decrease about 50% on pressure head losses.•A higher stability of voltage is founded for hybrid design set-up.
ISSN:0360-3199
1879-3487
DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.11.194