MASS TRANSFER MECHANISM OF STAGGERED THREE-DIMENSIONAL PARTIALLY NARROWED FLOW CHANNELS IN PEMFCS

Wei Huili; Chang Guofeng; Xu Sichuan

doi:10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-1290

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Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (7) : 408-416. DOI: 10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-1290

MASS TRANSFER MECHANISM OF STAGGERED THREE-DIMENSIONAL PARTIALLY NARROWED FLOW CHANNELS IN PEMFCS

Wei Huili¹, Chang Guofeng^1,2, Xu Sichuan¹

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Abstract

In this work, staggered three-dimensional （3D） partially narrowed structures are added to improve the poor performance of conventional parallel straight flow field in proton exchange membrane fuel cells （PEMFCs）. Numerical simulations using a 3D non-isothermal CFD model are employed to investigate the mass transfer mechanisms of this novel flow channel configuration. Results show that, compared with the parallel straight flow channels, the 3D partially narrowed flow channels increase the vertical oxygen concentration gradient between the channel and the gas diffusion layer （GDL）, and generate high-speed convective mass transfer within channels and between adjacent channels, thereby effectively enhancing the oxygen concentration in the GDL and PEMFC performance. When the narrowed section height decreases, PEMFC performance initially improves and then significantly decreases. The optimal performance is achieved when the narrowed section height is 0.3 mm. Compared with the parallel flow channels, at this configuration, the output current density and system net power of PEMFC at 0.54 V increase by 18.14% and 17.61%, respectively.

Key words

fuel cells / mass transfer / computational fluid dynamics / partially narrowed flow channel / numerical simulation / water management

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Wei Huili, Chang Guofeng, Xu Sichuan. MASS TRANSFER MECHANISM OF STAGGERED THREE-DIMENSIONAL PARTIALLY NARROWED FLOW CHANNELS IN PEMFCS[J]. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica. 2026, 47(7): 408-416 https://doi.org/10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-1290

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