Investigating pressure drops and flow uniformity in fuel cell flow channels.

High energy efficiency, being lightweight, quick start-up, and lower operating temperature make polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells an excellent choice for automobiles. These devices can be more dependable and efficient in the long run if flow field plates continue to improve in the areas of reactant distribution, lower pressure drops, accurately optimized water content, and better heat management. The influence of a single serpentine flow field configuration with two different active areas on pressure drop and flow uniformity was studied numerically and theoretically in this study. This was done first by developing the flow field pattern in “SolidWorks”, and then by running simulations to see how the flow channel performed using commercial CFD software, “ANSYS FLUENT”. Before running the simulations, a preliminary set-up is completed, which involves verifying the SolidWorks structures with “DesignModeler” and creating the mesh. An improved method of mesh selection is employed in order to identify the most effective mesh among those considered. In order to verify the numerical predictions, a theoretical analysis is carried out on flow field configurations. The comparison of numerical and theoretically generated pressure drop data showed that they agreed well with the existing literature. Finally, a number of modifications have been put to the test to see whether they can reduce pressure drop. Consequently, the pressure drops were less than the single serpentine flow field design we started with.