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Three-Dimensional CFD Modeling of Serpentine Flow Field Configurations for PEM Fuel Cell Performance

  • Research Article-Mechanical Engineering
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Abstract

A complete three-dimensional Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) model is proposed to study the influence of right-angle turn single serpentine (RAT1S), right-angle turn double serpentine (RAT2S), right-angle turn triple serpentine (RAT3S), and right-angle turn 3–2–1 serpentine (RAT321S) flow fields configuration on PEMFC performance with a commercial CFD code (ANSYS FLUENT). Simulations have been performed to envisage the pressure drop in the channel, the mass fraction of H2 and O2 along the anode and cathode channels, current flux density dispersion on the catalyst layer (CL), the membrane water content and proton conductivity as well as cell performance for proposed 4 flow field designs. A comparison of the simulation results of the four models was carried out. It has been found that the output of RAT321S flow field has improved compared to the RAT1S, RAT2S, and RAT3S flow field designs for the flow of the fixed-flow reactants, and RAT321S flow field model has been validated with experimental literature evidence. The results also show that the pressure drop losses are reduced as the number of passes increases.

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Abbreviations

\(uV\) :

Velocity (ms−1)

\(p\) :

Pressure (N m−2)

\(w_{i}\) :

Species mass fraction i in the mixture

\(D_{ij}\) :

Binary diffusion coefficient (m2s−1)

\(k_{p}\) :

Permeability of GDL (m2)

\(k_{s}^{\text{eff}}\) :

Ionic conductivity of solid phase (Sm−1)

\(i_{a}\) :

Anode transfer current density (Am−2)

\(i_{c}\) :

Cathode transfer current density (Am−2)

\(C_{{{\text{H}}_{2} }}\) :

Hydrogen concentration (molm−3).

\(C_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }}\) :

Oxygen concentration (molm−3).

\(k_{e}\) :

Ionic conductivity of the membrane (Sm−1)

\(C_{{{\text{H}}_{2} {\text{O}},a}}^{{{\text{MEM}}}}\) :

Membrane water concentration at anode (Jmol−1 K−1)

\(C_{{{\text{H}}_{2} {\text{O}},c}}^{{{\text{MEM}}}}\) :

Membrane water concentration at cathode (Jmol−1 K−1)

T:

Cell operating temperature (K)

\(P_{s}\) :

Water saturation pressure (Pa)

\(W_{{{\text{net}}}}\) :

Net power density (Wcm−2)

\(W_{{{\text{cell}}}}\) :

Cell power density (Wcm−2)

\(A_{{{\text{cha}}}}\) :

Cathode channel cross-sectional area

\(N_{w}\) :

Net water flux across the membrane (kg m−2 s−1)

\(n_{d}\) :

Electro-osmotic drag coefficient

\(D_{w}\) :

Water diffusivity

\(c_{w}\) :

Number of water molecules per sulfonic acid group

\(\alpha_{a}\) :

Anode transfer coefficient

\(\alpha_{c}\) :

Cathode transfer coefficient

\(\emptyset_{s}\) :

Phase potential of solid

\(\emptyset_{e}\) :

Phase potential at the electrolyte

\(\Lambda\) :

Water content in the membrane

\(\eta\) :

Dynamic viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)

\(\eta_{a}\) :

Anode potential difference

\(\eta_{c}\) :

Cathode potential difference

\(\rho\) :

Density (kg m−3)

MEM:

Membrane

ref:

Reference

eff:

Effective

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, VKR VNB & AGK College of Engineering, Krishna, Gudivada, Andhra Pradesh, India

    Venkateswarlu Velisala

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gitam Institute of Technology, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

    Gandhi Pullagura & Srinivas Vadapalli

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sardar Vallabhai National Institute of Technology Surat, Surat, Gujarat, India

    Naresh Yarramsetty

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Warangal, Telangana, India

    Murali Krishna Boni

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sasi Institute of Technology and Engineering, Tadepalligudem, Andhra Pradesh, India

    Kiran Kumar Gorantla

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  1. Venkateswarlu Velisala
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  2. Gandhi Pullagura
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Correspondence to Venkateswarlu Velisala.

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Velisala, V., Pullagura, G., Yarramsetty, N. et al. Three-Dimensional CFD Modeling of Serpentine Flow Field Configurations for PEM Fuel Cell Performance. Arab J Sci Eng 46, 11687–11700 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-05544-4

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