Author/Authors :
Torkavannejad, Ashkan Department of Mechanical Engineering - Urmia University, Urmia , Pesteei, Mehdi Department of Mechanical Engineering - Urmia University, Urmia , Ramin, Farzin Department of Mechanical Engineering - Urmia University, Urmia , Ahmadi, Nima Department of Mechanical Engineering - Urmia University of Technology,Urmia , Shahmohammadi, Hadi Department of Mechanical Engineering - Islamic Azad University of Tehran, Tehran
Abstract :
In this research, the impact of shoulder width and geometry of gas channel with different structures on
proton exchange membrane (PEM) has been investigated using numerical method. 3D, non-isothermal
was used with single straight channel geometrywhile maintaining the same boundary conditions and
reaction area with addition of humidification for anode and cathode. Our study showed that an elliptical
and circular channel cross-section gave higher current density as compared with conventional model.
Moreover, the elliptical and circular channel configurations facilitated reactant transportation, caused
more homogenous distribution of reactants andeffectively reduced mass transport loss, which lowered
cathode overpotential of the cell which is the main cause of loss. Simulation of the three different channel
geometries revealed that shoulder width has dominating effect on cell performance and leads to increase
the value of Ohmicloss. The numerical model is validated against published experimental data and shows
good agreement. Additional results with more detail are discussed and presented in the text.
Keywords :
Channel Cross-Section , Fuel Cell Performance , PEM Fuel Cells , Single-Phase
