Non-uniformity Analysis of Parameter Distribution in a 7-channel Serpentine Flow Field Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is a competitive energy conversion device with the zero emission of greenhouse gas and high efficiency. However, cell inconsistency in stack and non-uniformity in single cell affect the performance and accelerate localized degradation. A 7-channel serpentine flow field PEMFC is modeled based on the practical one. In this paper, numerical simulation method based on computational fluid dynamics is applied to investigate the distribution of physical field in membrane. The accuracy of simulation results is verified by experimental polarization curve. The current density, temperature and water content distribution under two working states (0.7665 V and 0.5311 V) are selected for analysis, and the distribution non-uniformity is quantitatively described and compared. The results demonstrate that numerical simulation is a convenient and inexpensive method assisting to PEMFC analysis in engineering application.