Effect of Cooling Flow Channels on the In-plane Temperature Distribution in PEMFC

As the power level of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell increases, the thermal management issue becomes gradually prominent. In the present study, the heat transfer performance analysis was conducted on the cooling water flow field in a graphite bipolar plate. The pressure drop, maximum temperature, maximum temperature difference, and temperature uniformity index under different channel or rib widths are compared. A new type of flow field was proposed to reduce pressure drop while improving temperature distribution uniformity. It is found that the influence of changing channel or rib width on temperature uniformity is not significant. However, more fluid space can lead to lower pressure drop. By changing the layout of the flow channel, the new flow field eliminates the local high-temperature area at the outlet position and improves temperature uniformity by 7%. In addition, the widening of the flow channel in the middle region also reduces the pressure drop by 26%.