An improved serpentine flow field with enhanced cross-flow for fuel cell applications

The paper describes a flow field design which is based on the improvement of the local cross-flow conditions in a split serpentine flow field. The layout of the flow field is such that the cross-flow is higher in the oxygen-depleted portion of the adjacent serpentine channel in a split serpentine flow field with more than one serpentine channels. The present arrangement offers the quadruple advantage of uniform reactant distribution over the entire cell active area; low overall pressure drop, thereby reducing the parasitic power losses; effective liquid water evacuation in the U-bends; and more oxygen replenishment in the oxygen-deficient portions of the serpentine channel. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experimental analysis carried out on the proposed design with three serpentine channels confirm the benefits.