A CFD Analysis Of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) Flow Field Plate Based On Orthogonal Test

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is recognized as the mostpromising alternative to the present power sources on portable power，small fixedstation, transports like electric vehicles because of its high energy density, highefficiency, low temperature startup and low pollution. PEMFC is considered as a greatmarket prospects, but it is at the stage of research with some principle problems. Flowfield is one of the unsolved problems while long-term research. The performance of apractical PEMFC power source not only depends on the materials and fabrication ofPEMFC, but is also greatly affected by the distribution of fuel and oxidant.With the above background, optimization of and channel dimensions in the flowfield plate is analyzed to achieve the purpose of high distribution uniformity andutilization of fuel.1. Using computational fluid dynamics techniques, according to L9（3）3formdesigning the orthogonal test, numerical simulation was carried out to optimize thechannel dimension of the flow field plate of PEMFC to reach maximum fuel gas (H2)consumption.Results show that the channel depth is the main factor of influence ofhydrogen utilization,channel width comes second,and land width is the smallest.Fordifferent shape of PEMFC, the optimal size are same within a certain range,butdifferent slightly because of the size of PEMFC.2. Observing and analyzing the distribution of hydrogen pressure between flowfield channel and gas diffusion layer,the opening rate and channel length are two otherfactors which affect the hydrogen utilization.3. A mathematical model of opening rate and length of PEMFC flow field wasestablished. A multi-objective optimization problem with maximum opening rate andchannel length as its target was solved. The linear weighted law was used to unify theobjective function, thus the multi-objective optimization problem was transformedinto single target optimization problems.The optimal channel sizes of differentPEMFC were worked out, and a conclusion was proposed that the opening rate andchannel length should be increased in the range allowed by other conditions.