Materials and design development for bipolar/end plates in fuel cells

Numerical simulation of liquid water and gas flow in a channel and a simplified gas diffusion layer model of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells using the lattice Boltzmann method

“…Similar simulations were conducted, with the vertical length of the simulated domain H changed from 0.1 mm to 1.0 mm, and the time step Δt 1.0 x 10 -8 s. Here, the maximum pore diameter becomes about 0.3 mm and this simulates liquid water behavior in a porous separator without channels, like that recently proposed as an alternative to cells with gas flow channels [17,18]. The results in Figs.…”

“…The porous separator has recently been proposed as an alternative to cells with gas flow channels, and the structure without channels is expected to enable a realization of uniform reaction over the active area of the membrane electrode assembly [17,18]. Fig.…”

Representative model and flow characteristics of open pore cellular foam and potential use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

“…This can lead to large concentration gradients across the GDL and mass transfer limitations because of the small channel dimensions, laminar gas flow and the inherent slow molecular diffusion process. It is also noted that permeability reduction with the conventional machined channel design is not possible beyond a particular value (around 10 -8 m 2 ), due to difficulty in machining thin cross-section channels [5] and increased velocity and pressure drop issues [40].…”

“…The flow plate is a vital component of a PEM fuel cell and can constitute to 80% of the weight and 30% of the total cost in a fuel cell stack [5]. It supplies fuel and oxidant to reactive sites, collects produced current, removes reaction products, manages water through the cell and provides mechanical support for the cells in a stack [6].…”

Performance characteristics and internal phenomena of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with porous flow field

“…The authors have observed phenomena related to water production behavior inside a cell, analyzed the effects on the current and temperature distributions across the reaction area [8], and reported the specific phenomena in the flow of condensed water and gas using cells with serpentine and straight channels [9]. Different from the channel and land configurations, porous flow fields have been proposed as an alternative to conventional flow channels, and a structure without channels is expected to enable realization of uniform reaction over the active area of the membrane electrode assembly [10]. Recently, performance and mass transport of a single cell with open metallic element flow field architecture have been investigated at ultra-high current densities under low humidity conditions [11].…”