A quantitative study of the effect of flow-distributor geometry in the cathode of a PEM fuel cell

An isothermal three-dimensional model describing mass, momentum and species transfer in the cathode of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell has been used to study four different flow-distributors: interdigitated, coflow and counterflow channels, and a foam. A quantitative comparison of the results shows that the interdigitated channels can sustain the highest current densities, followed in descending order by the foam, the counterflow and the coflow channels. The foam yields the most uniform current density distribution at higher currents, but care should be taken as to its permeability to avoid unreasonably high-pressure drops.