Effect of flow field design on the performance of elevated-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Puneet K. Sinha, Chao-yang Wang, Uwe Beuscher

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

In our previous work, operation of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) at 95°C was investigated in detail and it was found that dry operation of PEFC at elevated temperatures makes the parallel flow field design a viable design option for high temperature applications such as for automobiles. In this work, a three-dimensional, non-isothermal PEFC model is used to compare the performance of a 25 cm2 fuel cell with serpentine and parallel flow field design operated at 95°C under various inlet humidity conditions. Numerical results show that the parallel flow field provides better and more uniformly distributed performance over the whole active area which makes the parallel flow field a better design compared to the serpentine flow field for PEFCs operated at elevated temperature and low inlet relative humidity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)390-411
Number of pages22
JournalInternational Journal of Energy Research
Volume31
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 25 2007

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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