ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Bionic flow field research and optimization of PEMFC with multi-branch veins

Jian Yao, Fa-yi Yan, and Xue-jian Pei

College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, China

E-mail: yanfayi@sdjzu.edu.cn

Received: 27 June 2022  Accepted: 7 October 2022

Abstract:

The flow field structure has an important influence on the output performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this paper, the flow field structure of multi-branch veins PEMFC is taken as the research object. Through the simulation analysis of COMSOL Multiphysics, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, it can be found that the output power of the fuel cell can be improved by adjusting the included angle between flow channels and the inlet velocity value. To obtain the optimal numerical combination of the included angle parameter and the intake velocity, 12 different schemes were designed with the two as the research focus. According to the comparative analysis, when the angle between the main flow channel 1 and the primary branch channel is 30°, the angle between the main flow channel 2 and the secondary branch channel is 45°, and the inlet intake velocity is 2 m/s, the cell has the best comprehensive effect.

Keywords: Bionic flow field; Angle between channels; Intake velocity; CFD simulation

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-022-02532-2

Chemical Papers 77 (2) 935–946 (2023)