Effect of Cooling Flow Channels on the In-plane Temperature Distribution in PEMFC

Zhuo Zhang, Zhendao Li, Wanyu Lin, Junyu Chen, Wenquan Tao*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceedingConference Proceedingpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

As the power level of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell increases, the thermal management issue becomes gradually prominent. In the present study, the heat transfer performance analysis was conducted on the cooling water flow field in a graphite bipolar plate. The pressure drop, maximum temperature, maximum temperature difference, and temperature uniformity index under different channel or rib widths are compared. A new type of flow field was proposed to reduce pressure drop while improving temperature distribution uniformity. It is found that the influence of changing channel or rib width on temperature uniformity is not significant. However, more fluid space can lead to lower pressure drop. By changing the layout of the flow channel, the new flow field eliminates the local high-temperature area at the outlet position and improves temperature uniformity by 7%. In addition, the widening of the flow channel in the middle region also reduces the pressure drop by 26%.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Computational Heat and Mass Transfer - Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Computational Heat and Mass Transfer ICCHMT 2023
EditorsAli Cemal Benim, Rachid Bennacer, Abdulmajeed A. Mohamad, Paweł Ocłoń, Jan Taler, Sang-Ho Suh
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages644-654
Number of pages11
ISBN (Print)9783031672408
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Externally publishedYes
Event14th International Conference on Computational Heat and Mass Transfer, ICCHMT 2023 - Düsseldorf, Germany
Duration: 4 Sept 20238 Sept 2023

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering
ISSN (Print)2195-4356
ISSN (Electronic)2195-4364

Conference

Conference14th International Conference on Computational Heat and Mass Transfer, ICCHMT 2023
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityDüsseldorf
Period4/09/238/09/23

Keywords

  • Cooling Flow Fields
  • Large-scale PEMFC
  • Maximum Temperature Difference
  • Pressure Drop
  • Temperature Uniformity

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