Numerical study on applicability of metal foam as flow distributor in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). (26th July 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jo, Ahrae; Ju, Hyunchul
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 43:Number 30(2018)
• Page Start: 14012
• Page End: 14026
• Publication Date: 2018-07-26
• Subjects: Polymer electrolyte fuel cells -- Metal foam -- Serpentine flow field -- Membrane dehydration -- Flooding -- Numerical model; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.01.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, the effects of using porous metal foam based bipolar plates (BPs) are investigated under practical automotive fuel cell operations with low humidification reaction gases. Particular emphasis is placed on evaluating water management capabilities of metal foam based BP designs, compared to the traditional serpentine flow field BP designs. A three-dimensional, two-phase fuel cell model developed in a previous study is applied to 25cm 2 real-scale fuel cell geometries with metal foam and serpentine flow modes, and then successfully validated against the experimental data measured under different operating pressures and current densities. The detailed simulation results clearly elucidate advantages of using metal foam as flow distributor through extensive multidimensional contours of flow velocity, species, and current density. Highlights: Three-dimensional, two-phase PEFC simulations are performed on a real-scale geometry. Simulation results successfully validated against the experimental data measured. The MFFF mode resulted in the higher cell performance than the SPFF mode. The MFFF mode is suited for low-humidity PEFC operations.