The study of Tesla valve flow field on the net power of proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Abstract

The net power of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is affected by both output power and parasitic power. A Tesla valve flow field is designed to improve the net power of PEMFC. As a valve with no-moving-part, Tesla valve allows the forward and reverse flow of fluid, and a change in the flow direction can greatly affect the characteristics of the valve. In this research, the transport characteristics and output performance of reverse and forward flow for multi-stage Tesla valve (MSTV) flow field in PEMFC are numerically simulated and experimentally studied. The results indicate that the forward and reverse flow of the MSTV flow field show significantly different characteristics in terms of velocity distribution, pressure distribution and oxygen mass fraction. Meanwhile, the pressure drop of the MSTV flow fields is one to two orders of magnitude lower compared to the conventional serpentine flow field (CSFF). Compared with the conventional parallel flow field (CPFF), the peak net power of MSTV flow field for reverse and forward flow can be increased by 19.89% and 3.90%; compared with CSFF, the peak net power of MSTV flow field for reverse flow can be increased by 12.19%. Furthermore, considering parasitic power generated by pressure drop, an inlet commutation strategy based on MSTV flow field has been proposed to enhance the net power of PEMFC under all working conditions.