Channels design and dimensions effect on performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)

A three dimensional computational fluid dynamics model is proposed in this paper to investigate the effect of flow field design and dimensions of current collectors on performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) under different operating conditions. Influences of the ribs and openings current collector dimensions have been studied and analyzed in order to find the optimum ratio between them to enhance the production of courant density of PEM fuel cell. Three serpentine designs were used in this paper include different aspect ratio varying from 0.42 to 9. The results show that the best geometric design for PEMFC which gives more power is associated with aspect ratio close to 1.5, these imply that the performance enhance when dimensions between ribs and open space of current collector are close together.