Optimization of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Performance by Geometrical Changes

• Main Authors: Nima Ahmadi, Sajad Rezazadeh, Mehdi Asgharikia, Ehsan Shabahangnia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Iranian Institute of Research and Development in Chemical Industries (IRDCI)-ACECR 2017-05-01
• Series: Iranian Journal of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
• Subjects: pemfc; geometrical configuration; gdl prominence; cfd; current density
• Online Access: http://www.ijcce.ac.ir/article_26700_f56a16f1217dc22ea54ff98ea2fc1124.pdf

Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics in house-code of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) has been developed. The conservation equations are numerically solved using finite volume technique. One of the important goals of this research is the investigation of the variation of bipolar plates width effect on the fuel cell performance compared with the conventional model, which is highlighted in the results section with more details. Additionally, in the following, we investigated numerically and experimentally, the effect of posing the single prominence on the GDL layers in the middle of the gas channels. The result indicates the noticeable increase in current density at the same voltages, by comparing with the base model. Also, the optimum size of the prominences is obtained from experiments and simulations. To validate the numerical procedure and experimental tests, the results compared with available experimental data which show good agreement.