Radial Flow Field of Circular Bipolar Plate for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

The channel structure of flow field is an important influencing factor of the operation and performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC).Based on circular bipolar plate, three radial flow fields, namely, Radial-I, Radial-II and Radial-III, with different structures were created, and compared to disclose the effects of radial channel on the flow field for the PEMFC.The results show that radial flow fields clearly outperformed traditional flow fields like parallel, single serpentine and multiple serpentine flow fields.Radial-II has the highest current density and power density than any other flow field.The channel and rib widths of radial flow field have greater impacts on PEMFC performance than channel depth.Radial flow field can effectively improve the water discharge and reduce the pressure drop of the PEMFC.The research findings shed new light on the performance improvement of the PEMFC.