Numerical and Experimental Investigations On

ISSN 2394-3777 (Print)
ISSN 2394-3785 (Online)

Available online at www.ijartet.com
International Journal of Advanced Research Trends in Engineering and Technology (IJARTET)

Vol. 4, Issue 3, March 2017
Numerical and Experimental Investigations on

the Performance of PEM Fuel Cell with
Different Intake Models in Perforated Flow
Fields
Shanmugasundaram Subramaniam 1, Gukan Rajaram 2, Sugit Samaraj.C 3
Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India 1
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India 2
M.E. Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India 3
Abstract: In proton exchange membrane fuel cell, the design of flow channel is one of the important factors that influence
its performance. Here in this work, the performance of a single cell PEMFC with active area of 25cm2 has been evaluated
both numerically and experimentally with respect to perforated and serpentine flow channel design. When considering the
perforated flow field design, for the reactant gases to enter two different intake models are developed - one with front intake
and the other with intake from the side. Using Flow Simulation module in the Solid Works 10.0, analysis has been carried
out with respect to flow distribution and pressure distribution for the front and side intake model of the perforated flow field
design and from the results obtained perforated design with side intake shows better performance. The results are also
experimentally investigated and obtained similar performance results with perforated channel with side intake showing the
maximum power density of 0.319 W/cm2 whereas perforated flow channel with front intake and serpentine channel gave
0.298 W/cm2 and 0.283 W/cm2 respectively. The performance increase in perforated design is due to the radial seepage of
reactants through the gas diffusion layer (GDL) which indirectly increases the area of contact for the gases over the GDL.
Keywords: Perforated flow field, Gas diffusion layer, Flow simulation module, Radial seepage.
electrically charged particles through them. A catalyst is

I. INTRODUCTION used often to speed up the redox reaction at the electrodes.
A fuel cell is like a battery which generates electricity The classification of the fuel cells is made according to the
by converting chemical energy into electrical energy. In nature of the electrolyte used. The available types of fuel
battery, energy is stored in it which is discharged when it is cell are direct methanol fuel cell, polymer electrolyte
used and once the energy is completely depleted, the battery membrane fuel cell, alkaline fuel cell, phosphoric acid fuel
is thrown away or recharged with the help of an external cell, molten carbonate fuel cell and solid oxide fuel cell.
electricity supply to promote the electrochemical reaction in Each fuel cell has its uniqueness and is used in different
the reverse direction. applications based on the requirements.
A fuel cell, on the other hand, uses external supply of For using the fuel cells at transport applications, the
chemical energy and can run as long as it is supplied with a temperature should not go more than 100C. For this case,
fuel source. The fuel depends on the type of fuel cell. the apt fuel cell is the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel
Whatever may be the case, the oxidation of hydrogen takes cell. Internal Combustion (IC) engines are expected to
place electrochemically. Fuel cells can vary its size from provide 30% of useful energy conversion whereas 60 %
tiny devices to large power plants producing few watts to energy conversion is possible with the help of fuel cells.
megawatts of electricity production. All fuel cells are based This is because of no moving parts in case of fuel cells. In
on a universal design, using two electrodes separated by an addition to that, fuel cells are eco-friendly and are a boon to
electrolyte which may be solid or liquid that transports the society as they are completely green to the environment.
All Rights Reserved 2017 IJARTET 1


In The PEMFC performance depends on various revamping manufacturability and reduction in cost [9].
operating and geometric parameters like operating Usually there exists contact resistance between the flow
temperature, relative pressure, flow rate of the reactant plate and the gas diffusion layer [10] and herein to reduce
gases, gas diffusion layer (GDL) porosity and thickness and the impact of contact resistance on cell performance, the
flow channel design [1,2]. Of all these parameters, the surface roughness of the graphite plate is made smooth.
design of flow channel has the greater impact on the Shahram Karimi et al. [11] have studied the behaviour of
performance [2,3]. In order to increase the performance of metallic flow plates for PEM fuel cells and concluded that
the PEM fuel cell, proper knowledge of the mechanism that the metallic plates offer higher strength, electrical
lead to performance loss such as non-uniform concentration, conductivity, better formability and manufacturability, lower
high ionic resistance due to dry membrane, or high diffusive gas permeability, and better shock resistance than the
resistance due to the flooding on the cathode is necessary graphite plates. Yue Hung [12] studied the effect of terminal
[4]. So far numerous studies have been carried out in the design and flow plate material on PEM fuel cell
aspect of flow field designs like parallel, serpentine, performance. They suggested that the metallic plates
interdigitated, perforated, spiral and pin type. Among all undergo oxidation with the gases and result in membrane
known designs serpentine flow channel is widely used due to poisoning. To prevent this, gold plating or some other inert
its better water transporting characteristics and providing metal coating is provided to the metal plates. The current
proper spread out of gases leading to effective utilization of collector used here are gold plated so as to avoid this effect
MEA area [5]. In this work along with the serpentine significantly.
channel design, the performance of the perforated flow field Three dimensional flow field models aid in parametric
design is evaluated with some alterations in the intake path. study of a realistic flow field, current and concentration
In the recent years, numerical modeling and distributions. M. Zeroual [13] performed a numerical study
experimentations are the effective tools in optimizing the to determine the effect of inlet pressure and height of gas
design of fuel cell system. All these models compute the channel on the distribution and consumption of gases for a
flow field along a single channel thereby studying the PEM fuel cell. They have concluded that the channel with
reaction species and current density distributions. minimal height is expected to have more reagent
Shou-Shing Hsieh et al.[6] studied the effect of consumption than that of the channel provided with more
perforated and serpentine flow field designs on a micro scale height.
PEM fuel cell with active area of 1cm x 1cm. They
evaluated the performance of PEMFC, by trying out II. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
different configurations between serpentine and perforated To investigate the cell performance Biologic FCT - 50S
channel designs on anode and cathode flow plates test station is used as shown in Fig.1. High purity hydrogen
(serpentine/perforated, serpentine/serpentine and (99.99%) and medical grade oxygen are used as fuel and
perforated/perforated) and concluded that perforated flow oxidant respectively.
channel on anode side performs better with higher energy
efficiencies. Serpentine flow channel has the advantage of
good water removal capability and the disadvantage is that
due to the too narrow passage design the reactant flow in
them is not much easier to move around. Xuefeng Su et al.
[7] used perforated plate design on an open area to study the
effect of gas holdup in rayon fibre suspensions. They
concluded that on the perforated design by having holes of
1mm diameter the flow is found to be homogeneous under
various flow conditions. This similar design of having 1mm
perforation is followed in this work so as to have uniform
pressure distribution.
Yi et al. [8] developed a novel design in PEMFC stack,
by having perforated bipolar plates in place of conventional
bipolar plates as it was found lighter in weight. It has been
reported that, perforated plates have the tendency for Fig.1. Fuel cell Test Station


For MEA preparation (Membrane Electrode Assembly), collector plates on either sides held tightly together
Nafion 117 membrane is sandwiched between two gas providing no room for leakage of gases. It should be rigid
diffusion electrodes (GDE) of size 5 cm x 5 cm loaded with enough to withstand the clamping force. The end plates used
0.5 mg/cm2 of 40% Pt/C as catalyst and hot pressed them at
130C with a pressure of 60 kg/cm2 for 3 minutes is shown
in Fig.2.
Fig. 2. Membrane Electrode Assembly
The membrane is conditioned to activate the majority of

catalyst sites for achieving maximum performance. The H 2
and O2 flow rate are maintained at 500 ml/min and 250
Fig. 3. (a) Serpentine flow field (b) Perforated flow field
ml/min respectively. The cell temperature is maintained at for both the designs are of the same size (11 cm x 11 cm x
40C since the single cell performs better in between 35C 1.5 cm) and material (aluminium). Fig. 4 (a) and (b) shows
to 50C [14]. The humidification temperatures are kept at the end plates used for serpentine and perforated flow
70C and 60C for H2 and O2 respectively. The test station is channel respectively. The end plate design of perforated
interfaced with a computer by means of FC-Lab V5.22 flow channel plate differs from that of the one used in
software. Various configurations of experiments are serpentine design. This end plate is designed in such a way
available to study the cell performance. Usually current scan that, the reactant gas first enters a spatial volume of 18 cm3
and voltage pulse experiments are preferred to obtain the (6 cm x 6 cm x 0.5 cm).
performance curve.
III. DESIGN OF PERFORATED FLOW FIELD PLATE,

END PLATE AND CURRENT COLLECTOR
PLATE
Fig.3 (a) and (b) shows the channel designs serpentine
and perforated being machined on individual graphite plates
for the active area of 25cm2. In the fabrication of perforated
design, holes of 2 mm diameter are drilled on the plate with
2 mm spacing between the holes. On the entire active area of
25 cm2 (5cm x 5cm), total of 169 holes are made consisting
of 13 holes in each row and column. The reactant gas tends
to flow through the perforated holes simultaneously to reach
the reaction sites. The serpentine channel has a width of 2
mm, depth of 2 mm and land width of 2 mm.
The end plate is the one which will be placed at both the
ends of the fuel cell and it will have a wide flange provided
with bolt holes for clamping, so that the membrane electrode Fig. 4. (a) End plates for serpentine flow field
assembly is sandwiched between flow plates and current (b) End plates for perforated flow field


Due to continuous flow of reactant gas from the source,

the pressure in the constrained space gets increased and as a
result the reactant gas will start to flow through the holes of
the perforated flow plate and diffuses through the GDL to
reach the catalyst site. End plate design for perforated flow
field with front and side intake is shown in Fig. 5 (a) and (b).
Fig.6. Current collector plates for (a) serpentine flow field

(b) perforated flow field
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

A. Numerical analysis
The front intake end plate and side intake end plate
assembled with current collector, perforated flow field plate
and MEA is shown in Fig.7 (a) and (b) respectively.
Fig.5 (a) End plate with front intake

(b) End plate with side intake
The gaskets are provided between the end plate and

current collector plate to avoid leakages of reactants and also
functions as a separator to prevent the contact between the
end plate and current collector plate. The end plate has a
hole of 6 mm diameter with a depth of 75 mm on the side
face for inserting the heating element to maintain the cell
temperature. The locating pin holes of diameter 3 mm are
drilled on the end plates to align and assemble the cell. The
inner face of the end plate is completely laminated with an
insulating sheet to prevent short circuit and also to avoid the
surface from getting oxidized (since the reactant gas
contains moisture). The current collector plates used for
serpentine and perforated flow channel are shown in Fig. 6 Fig.7. Assembled view of (a) Front intake system
(a) and (b) respectively. (b) Side intake system


The flow and pressure distribution analysis is carried out by Whereas when tried with the inlet provided at the side, the
having the following parameters: inlet mass flow rate of 500 flow of reactants and pressure distribution is better and
ml/min, the hydrogen and oxygen outlet pressure at found to be more circulating before it takes the outlet as
atmospheric pressure. In the front intake model, only the shown in Fig. 9 (a) and (b).
nearby holes are effective; the distant holes from the inlet
showed reduced hydrogen consumption which can be B. Experimental analysis
observed in Fig.8 (a) and (b). Fig.10 shows the V-I and P-I curves for the three different
flow channel designs. The peak performance with maximum
power density of 0.319 W/cm2 and maximum current density
of 0.892 A/cm2 was obtained for perforated flow field with
side intake. Similarly for the perforated flow field (front
intake) and serpentine flow field, the maximum power
densities and current densities obtained were 0.298 W/cm2,
0.855 A/cm2 and 0.283 W/cm2, 0.728 A/cm2 respectively.
The peak values of power and current densities for the above
three flow field designs are compared in Table. 1. It is
evident that, the perforated flow field with side intake shows
12.7 % and 7 % increase in peak power densities when
compared with serpentine and perforated flow field with
front inlet respectively.
Fig.8. Front intake model (a) Flow distribution (b) Pressure

distribution
Fig. 10. V-I and P-I curve for Serpentine, Perforated (front intake) and
Perforated (side intake) flow fields
The reason for side intake system performing well
can be clearly viewed from Fig.9 (b) which shows the
uniform flow and pressure distribution of reactants
throughout the active area of the flow field. This in turn will
increase the electrochemical reactions and power output of
the PEMFC.
Fig.9. Side intake model (a) Flow distribution (b) Pressure distribution


TABLE 1. Comparison of peak power and current densities for perforated Enhancement in PEMFC, International Journal of Hydrogen
flow field (side intake), perforated flow field (front intake) and serpentine Energy, vol. 40, pp. 4641-4648, 2015.
flow field.
[4]. J. Nattawut and K. Yottana, Effects of difference flow channel
designs on proton exchange membrane fuel cell using 3-D model,
Peak power Peak current Energy Procedia, vol. 9, pp. 326-37, 2011.
Type of field density density [5]. Hong Liu, Peiwen Li, Daniel Juarez-Robles, Kai Wang and Abel
(W/cm2) (A/cm2) Hernandez-Guerrero, Experimental study and comparison of various
Serpentine flow designs of gas flow fields to PEM fuel cells and cell stack
0.283 0.728 performance, Frontiers in Energy Research, vol. 2, pp. 2296-598X,
field
2014.
Perforated flow field
0.298 0.855
with front intake [6]. Shou-Shing Hsieh and Yih-Wen Su, Effects of anode and cathode
Perforated flow field perforated flow field plates on proton exchange membrane fuel cell
0.319 0.892 performance, International Journal of Energy Research, vol. 38, pp.
with side intake
944-953, 2014.
V. C
V. CONCLUSION [7]. Xuefeng Su and Theodore J. Heindel, Effect of Perforated Plate
Open Area on Gas Holdup in Rayon Fiber Suspensions, Journal of
The implementation of perforated flow plates for Fluids Engineering, vol. 127, pp. 816-823, 2005.
uniform flow distribution is adopted for a PEM fuel cell [8]. Yi PY, Peng LF, Lai XM, Liu DA and Ni J, A novel design of
design. Two different intake models for the perforated flow wave-like PEMFC stack with undulate MEAs and perforated bipolar
channel design are developed and analyzed using Solid plates, Fuel Cells, vol. 10, pp. 111117, 2010.
Works 10.0. The first model with front intake and second [9]. Virk MS, Mustafa MY and Holdo AE, Numerical analyses of a
model with side intake is analyzed for flow and pressure PEM fuel cells performance having a perforated type gas flow
distribution. The flow and pressure distribution is found to distributor, International Journal of Multiphysics, vol. 3, pp. 347
be better in the side intake model when compared with front 360, 2009.
intake model. The performance enhancement studies on 25 [10]. Y. Zhou, G. Lin, A.J. Shih and S.J. Hu, A micro-scale model for
cm2 PEMFC with various flow field designs, namely predicting contact resistance between bipolar plate and gas diffusion
serpentine, perforated with front inlet and perforated with layer in PEM fuel cell, Journal of Power Sources, vol. 163, pp. 77-
783, 2007.
side inlet were conducted. From the studies on serpentine,
perforated (front intake) and perforated (side intake) flow [11]. Shahram Karimi, Norman Fraser, Bronwyn Roberts, and Frank R.
Foulkes, A Review of metallic bipolar plates for proton exchange
fields, the perforated flow field with side intake showed membrane fuel cells: Materials and fabrication methods, Advances
better performance of 12.7 % and 7 % increase in peak in Materials Science and Engineering, article ID 828070, pp. 1-22,
power densities when compared with serpentine and 2012.
perforated flow field with front inlet respectively. This is [12]. Yue Hung, Hazem Tawfik and Devinder Mahajan, Effect of
because of uniform spread of reactants and uniform Terminal Design and bipolar plate material on PEM fuel cell
reactions throughout the active area of the PEMFC. performance, Smart Grid and Renewable Energy, vol. 4, pp. 43-47,
2013.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT [13]. M. Zeroual, S. Belkacem Bouzida , H. Benmoussa and H.
The authors would like to thank the management of PSG Bouguettaia, Numerical study of the effect of the inlet pressure and
the height of gas channel on the distribution and consumption of
College of Technology, Coimbatore, India for necessary reagents in a fuel cell (PEMFC), Energy Procedia, vol. 18, pp. 205-
facilities extended to carry out this work. 214, 2012.
REFERENCES [14]. P. Karthikeyan, P. Velmurugan, Abby Joseph George, R. Ram

Kumar and R.J. Vasanth, Experimental investigation on scaling and
[1]. Xiao-Zi Yuan, Haijiang Wang, PEM Fuel Cell Fundamentals, stacking up of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, International
Springer-London, 2008. Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 39, pp. 11186-11195, 2014.
[2]. S. Shanmugasundaram, Gukan Rajaram, P.Karthikeyan and R.J.
Vasanth, Comparison of perforated and serpentine flow channel
plates on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell,
BIOGRAPHY
Journal of the Energy Institute, in press.
S.Shanmugasundaram is a Ph.D research
[3]. P. Karthikeyan, R.J. Vasanth and M. Muthukumar, Experimental
Investigation on Uniform and Zigzag Positioned Porous Inserts on
scholar in the Deparment of Mechanical
the Rib surface of Cathode Flow Channel for Performance Engineering, PSG College of Technology,


Coimbatore, India. He received his B.E degree from Institute

of Road and Transport Technology, Erode and M.Tech.
degree from Anna University, Coimbatore. He has published
one research paper in international journal. His current
research includes development of flow fields, stack design
and embedded system to control the stack voltage for Proton
Exchange Membrane fuel cell to enhance its performance.
He is a life member in Instituions of Engineers (India).
Dr.Gukan Rajaram is an Associate

Professor in the Deparment of Mechanical
Engineering, PSG College of Technology,
Coimbatore, India. He received his B.E.
degree from Madurai Kamaraj University,
India, in the year 1996. He completed his M.S. degree at
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, in the year
2001. He also received his Ph.D. and PDF from North
Carolina A & T State University. His research interest
includes Solid oxide fuel cells, PEM fuel cells, Materials
processing, Design of Experiments, Nano materials, Powder
metallurgy. He has four International Journal publications,
seventeen peer-reviewed International conference
publications and thirteen conference proceeding and
presentations He has fifteen years of research experience in
fuel cell materials, materials processing, characterization and
ten years of classroom teaching experience. He has
organized three national level conferences and two
workshops. He received three sponsored projects from DST
for a worth of Rs. 84 lakhs.

Numerical and Experimental Investigations On

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Numerical and Experimental Investigations On

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

ISSN 2394-3777 (Print)

ISSN 2394-3785 (Online)

International Journal of Advanced Research Trends in Engineering and Technology (IJARTET)