Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Bipolar Plate 3D Flow Channel Design And Simulation Optimization

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells(PEMFC)are used in military and civil applications because of their advantages of green and high efficiency.Currently,water and gas management problems have become an obstacle to the further development of the industry.To improve the water management and mass transfer problems inside the PEMFC,domestic and foreign researchers have studied different components of the PEM fuel cell from several aspects.Small changes in the flow field structure of the bipolar plate can have an impact on the performance of the PEM fuel cell.Researchers have designed a variety of flow field structures with excellent performance through computer simulations or other means such as experiments as a way to improve water management and promote the development of the PEM fuel cell industry.In this paper,the optimized flow field structure is used as the research objectives,and multiple optimized flow fields are studied by means of computer simulation,and the performance of other parameters such as water and gas distribution inside the flow field is analyzed through the cloud diagram obtained by post-processing the simulation results.The parallel flow field and the new flow field are processed and shaped,assembled into a single cell,and tested for performance using the fuel cell test system YK-A10 to compare with the computer simulation results.At the same time,a combination of computer simulation and experiment was used to investigate the relationship between operating parameters and the performance of PEM fuel cells.The specific research contents and results are as follows:(1)The parallel flow field was selected as the reference flow field,and a new flow channel structure based on right-angle microstructure was designed.By simulating three different right-angle shrinkage heights,the optimal right-angle shrinkage height of 0.3 was selected,and by analyzing the cloud diagram obtained from the simulation,the reactant distribution and liquid water distribution inside the PEM fuel cell were improved at the height of 0.3,and the output performance of the PEM fuel cell was improved.(2)The effects of three operating parameters,temperature,pressure,and relative humidity,on the performance of a PEM fuel cell with a right-angle microstructured flow field at a contraction height of 0.3 under 0.55 V operating conditions were investigated.The relationship between the performance of the PEM fuel cell and the operating parameters was analyzed by simulations with 12 sets of variables.It provides strong support for determining the optimal operating temperature,pressure and relative humidity of PEM fuel cells.(3)A bipolar plate with a right-angle microstructure flow field and parallel flow field of right-angle height 0.3 was successfully processed,and the remaining components were obtained through commercial purchase,which were assembled into a single cell and tested separately for fuel cell performance.The test results show that the output performance of the new right-angle 0.3 flow field is improved compared with the parallel flow field,and the magnitude of the performance improvement is generally consistent with that presented by computer simulations.The experiments on the effects of temperature and pressure on fuel cell performance were also conducted for the right-angle 0.3 flow field,and the results showed that the effects of pressure and temperature on fuel cell performance were consistent with the simulations.