J056023 A Three Dimensional Numerical Analysis of Pressure Drop and Cross Flow in a Serpentine Channel of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell

Abstract

The serpentine gas channel is commonly used in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell as it can ensures the removal of water produced in a cell with an acceptable parasitic load. In the current study, three dimensional, transient, isothermal gas flow behavior in a simplified model of serpentine flow plate and adjacent gas diffusion layer of a PEM fuel cell has been investigated numerically. The pressure drop and cross flow is considered as the diagnostic tools has been monitored for different pitch length in our numerical simulation. In the large scale calculation it is difficult to maintain the mass conservation strictly. In order to estimate the pressure drop accurately precise calculation of mass conservation is necessary which is strictly maintained in our present numerical simulation. The impact of pitch length on pressure drop and cross-flow is found significantly. The amount of cross flow is increased if pitch length decreased.It is also observed the cross flow suppressed the pressure gradient while bend region in a serpentine can improve the pressure gradient.