Power Output Optimisation via Arranging Gas Flow Channels for Low-Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) for Hydrogen-Powered Vehicles

James Chilver-Stainer, Anas F. A. Elbarghthi, Chuang Wen () and Mi Tian ()
Additional contact information
James Chilver-Stainer: Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK
Anas F. A. Elbarghthi: Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK
Chuang Wen: Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK
Mi Tian: Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: As we move away from internal combustion engines to tackle climate change, the importance of hydrogen-powered vehicles and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology has dramatically increased. In the present study, we aimed to determine the optimal configuration for the power output of a PEMFC system using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling to analyse variations of the primary serpentine design of gas flow channels. This helps improve efficiency and save on valuable materials used, reducing potential carbon emissions from the production of hydrogen vehicles. Different numbers of serpentine gas channels were represented with various spacing between them, within the defined CFD model, to optimise the gas channel geometry. The results show that the optimum configuration was found to have 11 serpentine channels with a spacing of 3.25 mm. In this optimum configuration, the ratio between the channel width, channel spacing, and serpentine channel length was found to be 1:2.6:38 for PEMFCs. Furthermore, the inclusion of fillets to the bends of the serpentine gas channels was found to have a negative effect on the overall power output of the fuel cell. Moreover, the optimisation procedures with respect to the number of gas channels and the spacing revealed an optimal power density exceeding 0.65 W/cm 2 .

Keywords: hydrogen-powered vehicle; polymer electrolyte membrane; fuel cell; hydrogen; gas flow channel; micro porous layer; optimal configuration; computational fluid dynamics; power output (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/9/3722/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/9/3722/ (text/html)

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:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:9:p:3722-:d:1133717

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().