Optimal Gas Channel Shape Design for a Serpentine PEMFC: Theoretical and Experimental Studies

作者：Huang Cheng Hung^*; Lin Jhong Wun

来源：Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 2009, 156(1): B178-B187.

DOI：10.1149/1.3025296

• carbon
• cathodes
• current density
• proton exchange membrane fuel cells

The technique of the inverse design problem for optimizing the shape of the gas channel (GC) for a serpentine flow arrangement at the cathode side in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) from the desired current densities located near the outlet of the channel at the cathode outer carbon plate surface is presented in this work. The desired current density distributions can be obtained by modifying the current density distributions of the existing PEMFC with a rectangular GCl. The geometry of the redesigned GC for serpentine flow arrangement is generated using a B-spline curve method, which enables the shape of the fuel channel to be completely specified using only a small number of control points, thus applying the technique of parameter estimation for the inverse design problem. Results show that by utilizing the redesigned optimal GCs, the oxygen concentration can be increased and water saturation can be greatly reduced; therefore the performance of the PEMFC can be improved. Finally, the prototype of the optimized GCs is built to verify the validity of this work.

• 出版日期2009