Numerical studies on rib and channel designs considering interfacial contact resistance
Pengfei Feng, Kuan Yang, Ligang Tan
中国化学工程学报. 2025, 81(5):
11-22.
doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2024.12.011
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The mass transport and ohmic losses in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is significantly influenced by the channel to rib width ratio (CRWR), particularly when accounting for the interfacial contact resistance between bipolar plates (BPs) and gas diffusion layers (GDLs) (ICRBP-GDL). Both the determination of the optimal CRWR value and the development of an efficient flow field structure are significantly influenced by ICRBP-GDLs. To investigate this, three-dimensional numerical models were developed, revealing that selecting an optimal CRWR tailored to specific ICRBP-GDL values can effectively balance mass transport and ohmic losses. Building on this insight, a novel island two-dimensional flow field design is proposed, demonstrating the ability to enhance oxygen transport to the catalyst layer (CL) and achieve a more uniform oxygen distribution without increasing ohmic losses. Compared to conventional straight and serpentine flow fields, the island flow field improves output power density by 4.5% and 3.5%, respectively, while reducing the liquid water coverage ratio by 30%. Additionally, the study identifies optimal CRWR values for conventional flow fields corresponding to ICRBP-GDLs of 2.5, 5, 10, 20, and 40 mΩ·cm2 as 1.5, 1.5, 1.0, 0.67, and 0.43, respectively. For the island flow field, the optimal CRWRs are consistently smaller—1.5, 1.0, 0.67, 0.43, and 0.43—due to its superior mass transfer capability. This work provides a valuable framework for optimizing flow field designs to achieve improved PEMFC performance.