Design and Modelling of 3D Bionic Cathode Flow Field for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Lingfeng Xuan, Yancheng Wang, Deqing Mei and Jingwei Lan
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Lingfeng Xuan: Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Technology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Yancheng Wang: Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Technology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Deqing Mei: Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Technology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Jingwei Lan: Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Technology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have been utilized as a promising power source for new energy vehicles. Their performances are greatly affected by the structural design of the flow field in the bipolar plate. In this paper, we present a novel three-dimensional (3D) bionic cathode flow field, inspired by the small intestinal villi. The structural design and working principle of the 3D bionic flow field units are first described. A 3D numerical model is developed to study the mass transfer and distribution of the reactants and products, as well as the polarization performances of the PEMFC with the 3D bionic cathode flow field. The simulation results indicate that the proposed 3D bionic flow field can significantly improve the reaction gas supply from the flow field to porous electrodes, and thus would be beneficial for the removal of liquid water in the cathode. The mass transfer of gas in the PEMFC can be enhanced due to the increasing contact areas between the gas diffusion layer (GDL) and the cathode flow field, and the distribution of currents in the membrane would be more uniform. The obtained results demonstrated the feasibility of using the 3D bionic flow field for the development of highly efficient PEMFCs with high power density.

Keywords: bionic design; proton exchange membrane fuel cell; flow field; numerical modelling; mass transfer (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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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