Reactant gas transport and cell performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with tapered flow field design

The objective of this work is to examine the reactant gas transport and the cell performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with a tapered flow channel design. It is expected that, with the reduction in the channel depth along the streamwise direction, the reactant fuel gas in the tapered channel can be accelerated as well as forced into the gas diffuser layer to enhance the electrochemical reaction and thus augment the cell performance. The effects of liquid water formation on the reactant gas transport are taken into account in the present study. Numerical predictions show that the cell performance can be enhanced with the fuel channel tapered, and the enhancement is more noticeable at a lower voltage. The results also reveal that the liquid water effect in general influences the cell performance and the effect becomes significant at lower voltages.