Open AccessNumerical study on the impact of interface contact resistance on the performance of a PEMFC with serpentine flow field
Author(s) -
Shuyu Chen,
Sheng Feng,
Wenbo Lu,
Qi Chen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/675/1/012200
Subject(s) - proton exchange membrane fuel cell , contact resistance , ohmic contact , pressure drop , materials science , concentration polarization , mechanics , isothermal process , polarization (electrochemistry) , analytical chemistry (journal) , composite material , chemistry , electrical engineering , membrane , thermodynamics , chromatography , layer (electronics) , engineering , physics , biochemistry
The performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) strongly relies on the flow-field design. In this study, a three-dimensional, multiphase, and non-isothermal PEMFC model with single serpentine flow field has been developed to investigate the effect of interface contact resistance (ICR) between the bipolar plate (BP) and gas diffusion layer (GDL) on the flow field dimension. In the cases of 25 different combinations of channel and rib width, polarization curves and power density curves of the PEMFC without ICR and with ICR of 7.418 mΩ.cm 2 as well as 21 mΩ. 2 are investigated. The results show that ICR has little effect on channel pressure drop but on liquid water accumulation. The value of ICR affects both the ohmic loss stage and concentration loss stage of the polarization curves. The power density of the PEMFC without ICR at the operating voltage 0.5V decreases as the rib width increases, while that with ICR increases as the rib width increases. Furthermore, the influence of invalid active area in BPs caused by flow field configuration on the cell performance should not be neglected when the ICR value is lower than 10 mΩ. 2 .