Experimental and Numerical Study of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells with a Novel Compound Flow Field

Yixiang Wang; Lei Wang; Xianhang Ji; Yulu Zhou; Mingge Wu

doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c01924

Experimental and Numerical Study of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells with a Novel Compound Flow Field

ACS Omega. 2021 Aug 17;6(34):21892-21899. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c01924. eCollection 2021 Aug 31.

Authors

Yixiang Wang¹, Lei Wang¹, Xianhang Ji¹, Yulu Zhou¹, Mingge Wu¹

Affiliation

¹ College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China.

Abstract

Excess water seriously affects the performance and lifetime of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). This study proposes a novel compound flow field, which is named the active drainage flow field (ADFF). The new design enhances the drainage performance by under-ribs flow, while the output performance is very close to that of the conventional serpentine flow field (CSFF). Additionally, the ADFF bipolar plate has been taken as a cathode while retaining CSFF as an anode; the combination shows a good output performance under high relative humidity. The peak power density has reached to 0.59 W/cm², which is 13% higher than that of the CSFF.