Numerical studies on rib & channel dimension of flow-field on PEMFC performance

Distributions in reactant species concentration in a PEMFC cause distributions in local current density, temperature and water over the area of a PEMFC. These can lead to effects such as flooding or drying of the membrane and cause stresses in different regions of the fuel cell. Changing flow-field configuration, including channel path length, width, or height to distribute the gas more evenly, is one method of minimizing these stresses. This work numerically investigated how serpentine flow-fields with different channel/rib's cross section areas affect performance and species distributions for both automotive and stationary conditions. Further, the influence of flow direction to performance and its distribution was also reported. The prediction revealed that for stationary condition, narrower channel with wider rib spacing gives higher performance but opposite results when automotive condition is applied.