Lowering the Pressure Drop and Cost of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell by Flow Field Plate Design

摘要

The flow field plate is a crucial factor affecting the pressure drop and cost of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In order to lower the pressure drop and cost of the PEMFC, a novel design method for the flow field plate structure was proposed. One of the originalities was the fact that intelligent manufacturing technology was applied to the design of the flow field plate, and the other one was the analysis of the pressure drop and cost of the PEMFC through experiments. First, the relationship between the flow field plate and the pressure drop was analyzed by using the finite volume method. Second, a PEMFC with a novel flow field plate was designed and manufactured, which was using intelligent manufacturing technology. Third, three types of flow field plates were tested by using a self-developed PEMFC test stand. Finally, three types of flow field plates were compared and analyzed, which included the cost of hydrogen, the cost of manufacture, and the pressure drop difference. When the relative humidity was 25% and the operating temperature was 333 K, the average difference between the pressure drop of the novel flow field plate and the serpentine flow field plate was 0.16%.