Study of the effects of flow channel with non-uniform cross-sectional area on PEMFC species and heat transfer

In this study it is investigated the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The results show that an inclination of 0.75° in the flow channel can effectively increase the current density generated by almost 9.5% and the maximum power density by 8%. With the use of more tapered channels the distribution of the reactants in the porous media leads to a better effective oxygen distribution, affecting directly the heat transfer inside the cell. In contrast, the pressure drop in the flow channel increase by factors of approximately 2 and 3.5 for angles of 0.5° and 0.75°, respectively.