Effects of non-equipotent flow field on performance of PEM fuel cell

Flow field is the important part in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell and one of its control factors. In this paper, the performance of PEM fuel cell with non-equipotent flow field was tested. Influences of the dimension change and the arrangement of flow field on its performance is analyzed. Experimental results show that comparison with conditional water management in PEM fuel cell with equipotent flow field, water management pattern in PEM fuel cell with non-equipotent flow field is changed. Performance of PEM fuel cell with sudden change in flow channel is better than that with gradient flow channel. Performance of PEM fuel cell with big entrance of reactant is better than that with small entrance of the reactant. Experimental results are very helpful for the structure and performance optimization of PEM fuel cells.