Mass transfer and performance analysis of PEMFC with bionic water flow channel

doi:10.11949/0438-1157.20250370

Abstract

Abstract:

Structural optimization is one of the important means to improve the output performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). Therefore, a new bionic droplet flow channel is proposed and compared with the sinusoidal flow channel and the straight flow channel to analyze their effects on the performance of PEMFC. Through the analysis of polarization curves,oxygen and water distribution, membrane current density, flow velocity and pressure drop, the results show that under the condition of the maximum depth of the bionic droplet flow channel being 0.65 mm and the number of cycles being 8, the current density of the bionic droplet flow channel is increased by 2.1% and 6.1% compared with the sinusoidal flow channel and the straight flow channel, respectively. In addition,the bionic droplet flow channel has significant improvements in oxygen concentration, membrane current density and average flow velocity compared with the sinusoidal flow channel and the straight flow channel, and the water content is lower than that of the two. This further indicates that the bionic droplet flow channel has the characteristics of uniform reaction gas concentration, strong water removal ability and high output performance.

Key words: proton exchange membrane fuel cell, numerical simulation, transfer process, convection, computational fluid dynamics, mass transfer, output performance

摘要：

流道结构优化是提升质子交换膜燃料电池反应气体传输及输出性能的重要手段之一，受水滴表面微流动特性启发，提出一种新型仿生水滴流道，并借助仿真软件COMSOL Multiphysics对比分析了仿生水滴流道、波形流道及直流道三者对质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）性能的影响。对极化曲线、氧气浓度分布、膜电流密度、平均流速以及压降进行分析，结果表明：在仿生水滴流道最大深度为0.65 mm、周期数为8的条件下，仿生水滴流道电流密度较波形流道、直流道分别提升了2.1%和6.1%。此外，仿生水滴流道在氧气浓度分布、膜电流密度和平均流速上均比波形流道和直流道有优势，进一步说明了仿生水滴流道具有反应气体浓度均匀、输出性能高等特点。

关键词: 质子交换膜燃料电池, 数值模拟, 传递过程, 对流, 计算流体力学, 传质, 输出性能

CLC Number:

TK 91

Lirong FU, Baoshuo YU, Jinyi LIU, Xuan FANG. Mass transfer and performance analysis of PEMFC with bionic water flow channel[J]. CIESC Journal, 2025, 76(10): 5093-5100.

付丽荣, 于宝硕, 刘进一, 方旋. PEMFC仿生水滴流道结构的传质和性能研究[J]. 化工学报, 2025, 76(10): 5093-5100.

Figures/Tables 12

Fig.1 Traditional straight channel

Fig.2 Waveform channel and bio-water drop channel

Table 1 Geometrical parameters and the physical parameters

参数	数值
流道长度/m	2×10^-2
流道宽度/m	1×10^-3
流道高度/m	1×10^-3
扩散层厚度/m	3×10^-4
膜厚度/m	1.08×10^-4
肋宽度/m	1×10^-3
催化层厚度/m	1.29×10^-5
尾部弧长/m	1.9×10^-2
尾部端点切线角/(°)	28
参考压力/atm	1
工作温度/K	343.15
扩散层孔隙率	0.4
扩散层电导率/(S/m)	750
阴极入口流速/(m/s)	0.42
阳极入口流速/(m/s)	0.12
膜电导率/(S/m)	9.825
阴极参考交换电流密度/(A/m²）	1×10^-4
阳极参考交换电流密度/(A/m²）	1×10³
扩散层渗透率/m²	3×10^-12
催化层渗透率/m²	2×10^-3
氧气参考浓度/(mol/m³)	3.39
氢气参考浓度/(mol/m³)	56.4
氢气质量分数	0.7
水的质量分数	0.3

Fig.3 Mesh independence verification

Fig.4 Comparison of simulation results and experimental data

Fig.5 The influence of different maximum depths on current density at 0.4 V with a cycle number of 8

Fig.6 The influence of different maximum depths on pressure at 0.4 V with a cycle number of 8

Fig.7 The influence of different periodic numbers on current density at a maximum depth of 0.65 mm

Fig.8 Comparison of the polarization curve and power density curve

Fig.9 Oxygen concentration distribution

Fig.10 Membrane current density distribution

Fig.11 Analysis of the z-direction flow velocity at the center interface of the cathode flow channel

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