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Ramped step flow field to enhance mass transfer capacity and performance for PEMFC

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  • Jiang, Ke
  • Zhao, Taotao
  • Fan, Wenxuan
  • Liu, Zhenning
  • Lu, Guolong

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) hold great promise for various energy-conversion technologies. Flow channel structure inside bipolar plate plays an important role in water transport, gas distribution and heat transfer for PEMFC. Herein, a novel design of ramped step structure has been proposed, in which the ramps are introduced into the front side of step structures to form a continuous and smooth flow field. The cell performance and improvement mechanism have been investigated by COMSOL. The results show that the net power density of PEMFC with ramped step flow field (RSFF) exhibits an increase of up to 17.55 %, 2.82 %, and 2.29 % when compared to conventional parallel flow field (CPFF), ramp flow field (RFF), and step flow field (SFF), respectively. RSFF can achieve higher and more uniform distribution of oxygen cross the entire gas diffusion layer and catalytic layer. Additionally, increasing the slope angle in RSFF will help to enhance the capacity of mass transfer within a certain range. Furthermore, RSFF improves water management by significantly increasing gas flow velocity at the end of the channel. This work paves the way for the design of tapering flow channels in PEMFC, opening up new avenues for research in this field.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiang, Ke & Zhao, Taotao & Fan, Wenxuan & Liu, Zhenning & Lu, Guolong, 2023. "Ramped step flow field to enhance mass transfer capacity and performance for PEMFC," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P2).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:219:y:2023:i:p2:s0960148123014040
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.119489
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cai, Yonghua & Liu, Xiaomu & Wei, Fan & Luo, Zixian & Chen, Ben, 2024. "Numerical and experimental study on mass transfer and performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with a gradient 3D flow field," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 361(C).

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