A parametric study of bipolar plate structural parameters on the performance of PEM fuel cell

In this paper, the influence of structural parameters of bipolar plates on the PEM Fuel Cell performance has been investigated by using numerical method. This model incorporates all the essential fundamental physical and electrochemical processes occurring in the membrane electrolyte, cathode catalyst layer, electrode backing and flow channel. Also in formulation of this model the cell is assumed to work under steady state conditions, membrane electrolyte fully hydrated and one dimensional, isothermal approximation are used. The structural parameters which considered in this paper are width of channels (Wc), width of support (Ws), number of gas channels (ng) and height of channels (hc). The results shown that, structural parameters of bipolar plates have great impact on outlet voltage in high current densities. The model predictions have been compared with the existing experimental results available in the literature and excellent agreement has been demonstrated between the model results and the experimental data for the cell polarisation curve.

A parametric study of bipolar plate structural parameters on the performance of PEM fuel cell Keywords:

PEM fuel cells , Bipolar plates , Structural parameters , Number of channels , Fuel cell performance