Numerical Simulation Applied to Study the Effects of Fractal Tree-Liked Network Channel Designs on PEMFC Performance

The effect of pressure drop and the flow-field of inhomogeneous transport of reactions gas are two important issues for bipolar flow channel design in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). A novel design through the imitation of biological development of the topology distribution of fractal tree-liked network channel is the main topic of this research. The effects of different Reynolds numbers and stoichiometric mass flow rate of reaction gas on the flow field distribution of tree-like channels were investigated by three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic analysis. According to numerical simulations, the fractal tree-liked network channel would have an excellent performance on the uniformity of multi-branching flow distribution and lower pressure drop along channels. The new type of fractal tree-liked bionic flow channel network design will be applied to assist in the experimental reference for improving the performance of fuel cell stack system in PEMFC for future.