IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i7p2609-d786136.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Numerical Investigation and Optimization of Cooling Flow Field Design for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Author

Listed:
  • Jiangnan Song

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China)

  • Ying Huang

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China)

  • Yi Liu

    (School of Data Science, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guiyang 550003, China)

  • Zongpeng Ma

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China)

  • Lunjun Chen

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China)

  • Taike Li

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China)

  • Xiang Zhang

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China)

Abstract

High temperatures and non-uniform temperatures both have a negative bearing on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. The temperature of proton exchange membrane fuel cells can be lowered by reasonably distributed cooling channels. The flow field distribution of five different cooling plates is designed, and the temperature uniformity, pressure drop and velocity of each cooling flow field are analyzed by computational fluid dynamics technology. The results show that while the pressure drop is high, the flow channel distribution of a multi-spiral flow field and honeycomb structure flow field contribute more to improving the temperature uniformity. As the coolant is blocked by the uniform plate, it is found that although the flow field channel with a uniform plate has poor performance in terms of temperature uniformity, its heat dissipation capacity is still better than that of the traditional serpentine flow field. The multi-spiral flow field has the strongest ability to maintain the temperature stability in the cooling plate when the heat flux increases. The increase in Reynolds number, although increasing the pressure drop, can reduce the maximum temperature and temperature difference of the flow field, ameliorate the temperature uniformity and improve the heat transfer capacity of the cooling plate.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiangnan Song & Ying Huang & Yi Liu & Zongpeng Ma & Lunjun Chen & Taike Li & Xiang Zhang, 2022. "Numerical Investigation and Optimization of Cooling Flow Field Design for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:7:p:2609-:d:786136
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/7/2609/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/7/2609/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amirfazli, Amir & Asghari, Saeed & Sarraf, Mohammad, 2018. "An investigation into the effect of manifold geometry on uniformity of temperature distribution in a PEMFC stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 141-151.
    2. Rahgoshay, S.M. & Ranjbar, A.A. & Ramiar, A. & Alizadeh, E., 2017. "Thermal investigation of a PEM fuel cell with cooling flow field," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 61-73.
    3. Zhang, Guobin & Yuan, Hao & Wang, Yun & Jiao, Kui, 2019. "Three-dimensional simulation of a new cooling strategy for proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack using a non-isothermal multiphase model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    4. Lin, Chen & Yan, Xiaohui & Wei, Guanghua & Ke, Changchun & Shen, Shuiyun & Zhang, Junliang, 2019. "Optimization of configurations and cathode operating parameters on liquid-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks by orthogonal method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Sasmito, Agus P. & Kurnia, Jundika C. & Mujumdar, Arun S., 2012. "Numerical evaluation of various gas and coolant channel designs for high performance liquid-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 278-291.
    6. Jung, Aeri & Oh, Jongkil & Han, Kookil & Kim, Min Soo, 2016. "An experimental study on the hydrogen crossover in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells for various current densities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 212-217.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhi Liu & Tingting Sun & Fuqiang Bai, 2024. "Numerical Study on Effect of Flow Field Configuration on Air-Breathing Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Stacks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Huang, Ying & Song, Jiangnan & Deng, Xinyue & Chen, Su & Zhang, Xiang & Ma, Zongpeng & Chen, Lunjun & Wu, Yanli, 2023. "Numerical investigation of baffle shape effects on performance and mass transfer of proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Qin & Zhang, Guobin & Zhang, Xuzhong & Sun, Cheng & Jiao, Kui & Wang, Yun, 2021. "Thermal management of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: A review of cooling methods, material properties, and durability," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    2. Han, Chaoling & Chen, Zhenqian, 2021. "Study on the synergism of thermal transport and electrochemical of PEMFC based on N, P co-doped graphene substrate electrode," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    3. Atyabi, Seyed Ali & Afshari, Ebrahim & Zohravi, Elnaz & Udemu, Chinonyelum M., 2021. "Three-dimensional simulation of different flow fields of proton exchange membrane fuel cell using a multi-phase coupled model with cooling channel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    4. Yang, Zirong & Jiao, Kui & Wu, Kangcheng & Shi, Weilong & Jiang, Shangfeng & Zhang, Longhai & Du, Qing, 2021. "Numerical investigations of assisted heating cold start strategies for proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    5. Amirfazli, Amir & Asghari, Saeed & Sarraf, Mohammad, 2018. "An investigation into the effect of manifold geometry on uniformity of temperature distribution in a PEMFC stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 141-151.
    6. Xu, Jiamin & Zhang, Caizhi & Wan, Zhongmin & Chen, Xi & Chan, Siew Hwa & Tu, Zhengkai, 2022. "Progress and perspectives of integrated thermal management systems in PEM fuel cell vehicles: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    7. Luo, Lizhong & Huang, Bi & Bai, Xingying & Cheng, Zongyi & Jian, Qifei, 2020. "Temperature uniformity improvement of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack with ultra-thin vapor chambers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    8. Chen, Ben & Deng, Qihao & Yang, Guanghua & Zhou, Yu & Chen, Wenshang & Cai, Yonghua & Tu, Zhengkai, 2023. "Numerical study on heat transfer characteristics and performance evaluation of PEMFC based on multiphase electrochemical model coupled with cooling channel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    9. Shao, Yangbin & Xu, Liangfei & Hu, Zunyan & Xu, Ling & Zhao, Yang & Zhao, Guanlei & Li, Jianqiu & Ouyang, Minggao, 2023. "Investigation on the performance heterogeneity within a fuel cell stack considering non-isopotential of bipolar plates," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PB).
    10. Cha, Dowon & Yang, Wonseok & Kim, Yongchan, 2019. "Performance improvement of self-humidifying PEM fuel cells using water injection at various start-up conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 514-524.
    11. Prantik Roy Chowdhury & Adam C. Gladen, 2024. "Design of Flow Fields for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells Using Computational Fluid Dynamics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-27, September.
    12. Ashley Fly & Kyoungyoun Kim & John Gordon & Daniel Butcher & Rui Chen, 2019. "Liquid Water Transport in Porous Metal Foam Flow-Field Fuel Cells: A Two-Phase Numerical Modelling and Ex-Situ Experimental Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-14, March.
    13. Kurnia, Jundika C. & Sasmito, Agus P. & Shamim, Tariq, 2017. "Performance evaluation of a PEM fuel cell stack with variable inlet flows under simulated driving cycle conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 751-764.
    14. García-Guendulain, Juan M. & Riesco-Ávila, José M. & Picón-Núñez, Martín, 2020. "Reducing thermal imbalances and flow nonuniformity in solar collectors through the selection of free flow area ratio," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    15. Chen, Ke & Luo, Zongkai & Zou, Guofu & He, Dandi & Xiong, Zhongzhuang & Zhou, Yu & Chen, Ben, 2024. "Multi-objective optimization of gradient gas diffusion layer structures for enhancing proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance based on response surface methodology and non-dominated sorting gen," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    16. Pei, Pucheng & Wu, Ziyao & Li, Yuehua & Jia, Xiaoning & Chen, Dongfang & Huang, Shangwei, 2018. "Improved methods to measure hydrogen crossover current in proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 338-347.
    17. Rostami, Leila & Haghshenasfard, Masoud & Sadeghi, Morteza & Zhiani, Mohammad, 2022. "A 3D CFD model of novel flow channel designs based on the serpentine and the parallel design for performance enhancement of PEMFC," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    18. Su, Guoqing & Yang, Daijun & Xiao, Qiangfeng & Dai, Haiqin & Zhang, Cunman, 2021. "Effects of vortexes in feed header on air flow distribution of PEMFC stack: CFD simulation and optimization for better uniformity," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 498-506.
    19. Wang, Qianqian & Tang, Fumin & Li, Bing & Dai, Haifeng & Zheng, Jim P. & Zhang, Cunman & Ming, Pingwen, 2022. "Investigation of the thermal responses under gas channel and land inside proton exchange membrane fuel cell with assembly pressure," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    20. Zhou, Kehan & Liu, Zhiwei & Zhang, Xin & Liu, Hang & Meng, Nan & Huang, Jianmei & Qi, Mingjing & Song, Xizhen & Yan, Xiaojun, 2022. "A kW-level integrated propulsion system for UAV powered by PEMFC with inclined cathode flow structure design," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:7:p:2609-:d:786136. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.