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Fish scale bionic flow field design and performance analysis of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Author

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  • Chen, Wei
  • He, Weibiao
  • Li, Yan
  • Zhu, Guohui
  • Zuo, Qingsong
  • Shen, Zhuang
  • Li, Jianxing

Abstract

The flow field design significantly influences the performance of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Inspired by the arc-shaped structure and staggered arrangement of fish scales, a fish scale bionic flow field (FSFF) is designed, which potentially reduces flow resistance and enhances flow field uniformity. Thus, a three-dimensional numerical model is established and validated with experimental data. To clarify the feasibility of the novel flow field design, different flow directions and arrangement modes on flow characteristics and species distribution are studied. The results show that all FSFF schemes can effectively improve oxygen distribution and enhance PEMFC performance by compared with conventional parallel flow field (CPFF) and conventional pin-type flow field (CPTFF). Especially, the scheme of FSFF-FB which adopts forward flow and subchannel arrangement B achieves a 9.3 % and 1.41 % increase in power density, along with a 5.47 % and 1.38 % reduction in pressure drop. Then, we design and study four subchannels number (6, 8, 10 and 12) and find that the scheme of FB-10 with 10 subchannels is better, its effective mass transfer coefficient increased by 27.70 % and 17.16 %, respectively compared to CPFF and CPTFF. Overall, increasing the subchannel numbers improves the power density, however, the pressure drop also increases.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Wei & He, Weibiao & Li, Yan & Zhu, Guohui & Zuo, Qingsong & Shen, Zhuang & Li, Jianxing, 2025. "Fish scale bionic flow field design and performance analysis of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:334:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225033067
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.137664
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