Comparison of Planar and Tubular Flow Field Plates for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) through Simulation

Abstract

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is an excellent clean energy alternative to current non-renewable energy sources. Bipolar plates (BPPs) are a key component of these PEMFCs and are directly responsible for their performance. Much research has been invested in channel design, materials characterization, and interfacial phenomenon of BPPs but not much attention has been paid to the architecture of the plate itself. Traditional BPPs are created in a planar form, but recent research efforts have revealed a novel tubular design that performs equally as well if not better than conventional plates. This study will experiment with three different channel designs for both planar and tubular plate configurations. The finite element ANSYS software will be used to determine and visualize velocity and pressure distributions of fluid flow through the BPP channels. Results from this study will validate whether the tubular configuration is superior to the planar form as well as which channel design is most appropriate for either configuration.