Numerical Investigation of Tapered Flow Field Configurations for Enhanced Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Performance

Yulin Wang, Xiaoai Wang, Yuanzhi Fan, Wei He, Jinglei Guan and Xiaodong Wang

Applied Energy, 2022, vol. 306, issue PA, No S0306261921013210

Abstract: A tapered flow field configuration (FFC) is proposed to improve the oxygen transport, water removal and performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. By performing a three-dimensional multiphase fuel cell model, the influence of the tapered FFC on the internal physicochemical process and overall cell performance are numerically investigated in this study. The tapered FFC without and with consideration of the electric contact resistance (ECR) between bipolar plates and gas diffusion layers are comparatively evaluated. Compared with the conventional FFC, for the tapered FFC without considering the ECR, an increased ratio of the side length for the inlet to that for the outlet (LI/O) enhances oxygen transport, water removal and cell performance. However, for tapered FFCs considering the ECR, an increased ratio of LI/O initially increases and then weakens oxygen transport, water removal and cell performance. Nevertheless, regardless of the tapered FFC with or without considering the ECR, a decreased ratio of LI/O degrades the overall cell performance. In comparison with all tapered FFC designs, the optimal tapered FFC design with an LI/O of 1.2 exhibits a more uniform reactant and current density distributions, which reduces the coefficient of variation of the current density and oxygen molar concentration by approximately 21.4% and 8.5%, thereby improving overall cell performance.

Keywords: PEM fuel cell; Tapered FFC; Electric contact resistance; Oxygen transport and water removal; Fuel cell performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261921013210
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:306:y:2022:i:pa:s0306261921013210

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118021

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().