Theoretical dissection of water management paradigms in PEM fuel cells: Comparative insights into cutting-edge flow field channel designs for resolving hydrodynamic challenges

Abstract

This study presents a detailed theoretical investigation into water management paradigms in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs), focusing on comparative insights into three advanced flow field channel designs: Serpentine Interdigitated and Fractal are the most common types of micro capillary. The results obtained indicate that the Fractal design exhibited the highest response with the maximum gas utilization efficiency of 95% at low current densities decreasing to 80% at 2.5A/ cm² in contrast to the other designs such as Serpentine and Interdigitated with efficiency of 75% and 72% when operated at the exactly similar conditions. In addition, voltage drop analysis for the Fractal design was lower, from 0.015 V to 0.25 V which is better by 30% over the voltage of the Serpentine design and by 40% over the voltage of Interdigitated design. As it has also been highlighted from these findings, each of the flow field geometries has an important decision in determining the level of hydrodynamic issues such as the formation of water layers and the reactive species distribution while, at the same time improving the overall cell performance. The findings presented in this research contribute to the development of effective recommendations for PEMFC system design to meet the global increased interest in efficient energy systems.