Laminar Flow in a PEM Fuel Cell Cathode Channel

A Berman's model for the laminar flow of incompressible fluid in a channel with permeable walls is extended for variable along the channel velocity of injection. The system of two-dimensional continuity and Navier-Stokes equations is reduced to a single ODE for the transversal velocity with coefficients depending on position along the channel. Numerical solution for the flow in the cathode channel of a PEM fuel cell is presented. The flow velocity profile across the channel is almost indistinguishable from the Poiseuille's parabolic shape; however, the distribution of pressure gradient and longitudinal velocity differ quite significantly from the Berman's result.