Investigation of the effects of unique flow plates on cell performance for fuel cells used in electric vehicles

The ever-increasing energy demand highlights the importance of sustainable and environmentally friendly energy technologies. Fossil fuels, widely used worldwide, cannot be considered a reliable energy source in the long term due to their high carbon emissions, air pollution, and limited reserves. The negative environmental impacts of traditional energy sources such as coal, oil, and natural gas necessitate a shift towards renewable and clean energy technologies. In this context, the use of environmentally friendly resources such as solar, wind, and hydrogen plays a critical role in sustainability. Among the technologies being converted into renewable energy sources, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) stand out due to their advantageous features. PEMFC systems stand out with their high energy conversion efficiency, low operating temperatures, fast response times, and quiet operation. Furthermore, they are environmentally friendly because they emit only water as a byproduct. This study aimed to investigate the effects of porous blocks placed in the anode and cathode channels of a bipolar plate on the temperature and pressure distributions in the fuel cell. In this context, numerical models were created under five different cell voltages, and the relevant I-V characteristic curves were obtained. Analyses were conducted using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) using ANSYS Fluent software. A three-dimensional single-cell PEM fuel cell with an active area of 50 cm² was modeled in the study. The findings showed that the serpentine channel design in which porous blocks are placed provides higher current density compared to the standard serpentine geometry. Specifically, a 9.95% increase in current density was observed at a cell voltage of 0.4 V. Furthermore, local temperature increases were noted in the regions where the porous blocks were located. Furthermore, the pressure drop in the porous block model was found to be higher than in the standard serpentine model.