Simulations of a New Flow Channel Design of Bipolar Plates for a Fuel Cell Type PEM By CFD

Nowadays, there is an increasing tendency towards renewable energy due to the limitation and pollution of fossil fuel. Among these energies, the fuel cell is a suitable technology with its high-power density converting chemical energy to electricity. Fuel cells are a highly efficient, environmentally friendly power source with broad applications in many industries including transportation as well as portable and stationary power generation, which will translate the chemical energy stored directly in the fuel and oxidizer into electrical energy. The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is a useful type of fuel cell due to its high efficiency, high energy densities and low corrosion [1]. Other advantages of PEMFCs are their low operating temperature (40-90°) and planar geometry which allows many cells to be stacked together in order to obtain an appropriate size. Manufacturing and operating costs of this type of fuel cell can be reduced by optimizing the efficiency of fuel cells through detailed analysis of complex electrochemical and mass transport phenomena that occur within the cells [2]. It is very well known that the bipolar plate is an important component of the fuel cell, the design of the fuel cell is largely bipolar plate design, and especially the design of the flow field is a top priority [3]. In this context, this work deals with the simulation of a complete PEM fuel cell, emphasizing the novel design of the flow channels of the bipolar plates. The simulation was performed in a single cell configuration using the Navier-Stokes equations for the flow channels, the Brinkman equation for the gas diffusion layer, and for the mass transport the Maxwell-Stefan equations. Finally, for the simulation of the current distribution in the catalytic layer, the Butler-Volmer equation was adapted to the mass transport. The new design allowed a better dispersion of the gases inside the channels, avoiding water stagnation and increasing the efficiency of the fuel cell. References [1] Caglayan D.G., Sezgin B., Devrim Y., Eroglu I. Three-dimensional modeling of a high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane cell at different operation temperatures. Int. J. Hyd. Ener. 41 (2016) 10060-10070. [2] Haghayegh M., Eikani M., Rowshanzamir S. Modeling and simulation of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell using computational fluid dynamics. Int. J. Hyd. Ener. 42 (2017) 21944-21954. [3] Hermann A., Chaudhuri T., Spagnol P. Bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells: A review. Int. J. Hyd. Ener. 30 (2005) 1297-1302.