Effect of flow fields on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC)

With the technological developments that progress day by day, the innovations brought by the industrialization process and the increase in population density, energy resources have become insufficient. With the search for alternative energy types to decreasing fossil resources, studies on fuel cells have increased over the years. Fuel cells, a clean, environmentally friendly and sustainable energy source, are systems that can convert chemical energy directly into electricity or heat. Considering its working principle, it works like a battery and does not need charging like traditional batteries if oxygen is supplied to the system. Along with the operating parameters such as pressure and temperature that affect the operating performance of fuel cells, the geometric properties of the components inside the cell also directly affect the battery performance. In this study, the effects of flow channels on the bipolar layer, one of the components of the fuel cell, on battery performance were examined. Numerical analyzes were carried out in the study using the Ansys Fluent program. Features such as pressure distribution in the cell, temperature distribution, current density, velocity distribution and distribution of components for parallel flow channel, mesh flow channel and serpentine flow channel designs were compared for operating parameters at 2 atm and 70℃. In addition, polarization curves were obtained by performing analyzes for different cell voltages (0.4V, 0.5V, 0.6V, 0.7V, 0.8V and 0.9V). When these curves were evaluated, it was seen that the cell with the serpentine channel design had a higher current density. For the other parameters examined, the features that make each design superior to each other were evaluated.