Numerical Study and Design Optimization of Geometry Parameters of Tesla Valve Flow Fields for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Jianhua Zhou, Feineng Huang, Wenjun Wang, Jianbo Yang and Guanqiang Ruan ()
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Jianhua Zhou: School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Dianji University, Shanghai 201306, China
Feineng Huang: School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Dianji University, Shanghai 201306, China
Wenjun Wang: Central Research Institute, Shanghai Electric Group Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200002, China
Jianbo Yang: Central Research Institute, Shanghai Electric Group Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200002, China
Guanqiang Ruan: School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Dianji University, Shanghai 201306, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-20

Abstract: Flow field design in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is a critical issue, as it plays an important role in governing reactant transport dynamics and cell performance. In this work, numerical studies of a single Tesla-valve flow field were conducted. The influence of loop radius, channel angle, and channel height on the performance of PEMFCs were fully explored. Then, aiming to maximize the output current density, this study optimized the Tesla-valve flow field configuration through a framework that integrates Gaussian process modeling with a Genetic Algorithm (GA). The approach efficiently identifies the optimal geometric parameters, highlighting effective synergy between the surrogate model and intelligent evolutionary optimization for enhanced performance. Simulation results show that the current density at 0.4 V and the highest power density have been improved by more than 10% compared to the baseline design for both forward and reverse flow. The optimized Tesla valve design has been compared with conventional parallel and serpentine flow fields of the same flow area. Results show that, despite the larger pressure drop for the single channel case—which is due to the insufficient length of the serpentine channel—the Tesla-valve flow field demonstrated superior performance in other metrics, including current and power density, under both flow directions.

Keywords: PEMFC; Tesla valve flow field; geometry parameters; design optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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