Three-dimensional multi-phase simulation of proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance considering constriction straight channel

In order to solve the problems of gas transport and drainage performance in cathode flow field (CFF), a constriction straight channel (CSC) is proposed to enhance the convective mass transfer effect of gas and effectively discharge liquid water. By using three-dimensional (3D) multi-phase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, the influence of width, depth and length of CSC on proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is quantitatively analyzed. What's more, the influence of the number and arrangement of constriction is simulated. It is found that the increase of the number of constriction is beneficial to increase the average current density of FC, and the average current density of 9 is 2.22% higher than that of 7. Staggered arrangement of constriction (SAC) has better performance than parallel arrangement of constriction (PAC), with an average current density of 0.81% higher but a pressure drop of 30.45% lower. Finally, based on the above results, a full-scale cathode constriction flow field is established. The simulation results demonstrate that the novel flow field can significantly enhance the gas convection effect and effectively discharge the liquid water accumulated in the flow field, and the maximum water content of proton exchange membrane (PEM) is increased by 5.36%.