Introducing a New Serpentine Configuration of Gas Channels to Enhance the Performance and Reduce the Water Flooding in the PEMFC

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells consume hydrogen and air and have high efficiency and power density. The present study three-dimensionally investigates the performance of PEMFCs with different geometries under different operating conditions. The computational fluid dynamics approach was adopted to solve the governing equations. In CFD, the finite volume method is employed to discretize and solve equations. A serpentine gas injection channel and a parallel gas injection channel of the same size were examined. The proposed approach was validated by simulating the base model at 0.6 V and three reference current densities. The present work primarily sought to improve the performance of PEMFCs. Also, the concentration diagram indicated that the water concentration rose on the cathodic side, implying reasonable water transfer management was reasonable. Moreover, the oxygen concentration declined on the cathodic side. The serpentine model was found to have a higher current density and output power than the parallel model. Liquid water production was lower in the serpentine model than in the parallel model. This prevented immersion and fuel cell interruption. Water accumulation in the middle of the PEMFC with the parallel channel hindered uniform temperature and current density distributions. The parallel model underwent a lower pressure drop than the serpentine model. Therefore, lower power was required to pump the gases through the parallel channel. A rise in the reference current density reduced liquid water production and overpotential and improved the current density distribution and temperature distribution in both serpentine and parallel models.