Numerical investigation of the effect of opposing gas flow directions in adjacent cells on power generation and temperature distribution in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

Authors

1 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.

2 Assoc. Prof., Mechanical Engineering, Guilan University, Rasht, Iran

10.22044/jsfm.2025.15640.3935

Abstract

In polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), increasing the current density can lead to non-uniform temperature distribution and, consequently, severe thermal gradients. In this regard, the present study numerically investigates the effect of various inlet gas flow directions on the thermal and electrochemical performance of two adjacent cells in a PEMFC. In this study, the governing equations are solved under steady-state, three-dimensional conditions using the finite volume method in ANSYS Fluent. The results indicate that the highest temperature gradients occur along the vertical (height) direction of the cell, while the lowest gradients are observed along the longitudinal direction. The study also reveals a conflict between the thermal and electrochemical performance of the cells, in which a decline in the other accompanies improvement in the criterion. A case study of five different flow configurations shows that the most uniform temperature distribution (i.e., the lowest thermal gradient) occurs when the flow directions in both cells and rows are the same (Case 1). In this configuration, the maximum temperature gradient difference compared to other cases is calculated to be 4.4 K/cm. In contrast, the highest current density is observed when the flow directions in both cells and rows are opposite (Case 5). The maximum difference in current density among the configurations is 0.29 A/cm² (equivalent to 30.21%), obtained at an operating voltage of 0.75 V.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1] Yuan Y, Abdullah M, Sajadi SM, Heidarshenas B, Malekshah EH, Aybar HŞ (2024) Numerical investigation of the effect of changing the geometry of a U-shaped fuel cell channel with asymmetric gas flow and its effect on hydrogen consumption. Int J Hydrogen Energy 50: 1167-1178.
[2] Alaedini AH, Tourani HK, Saidi M (2023) A review of waste-to-hydrogen conversion technologies for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications: Aspect of gasification process and catalyst development. J Environ Manage 329: 117077.
[3] Ganjian M, Alirezapouri MA,  Farahabadi HB (2024) Fuel Cell-Based Hybrid Ship Design. J Solid Fluid Mech 14(2): 15-29.
[4] Yang X, Meng X, Sun J, Song W, Sun S, Shao Z (2023) Study on internal dynamic response during cold start of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with parallel and serpentine flow fields. J Power Sources 561: 232609.
[5] Qiao JN, Guo H, Ye F, Chen H (2024) A nonlinear contraction channel design inspired by typical mathematical curves: Boosting net power and water discharge of PEM fuel cells. Appl Energy 357:122474.
[6] Meng H, Song J, Guan P, Wang H, Zhao W, Zou Y, Ding H, Wu X, He P, Liu F, Zhang Y (2024) High ion exchange capacity perfluorosulfonic acid resine proton exchange membrane for high temperature applications in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. J Power Sources 602: 234205.
[7] Lim K, Vaz N, Lee J, Ju H (2020) Advantages and disadvantages of various cathode flow field designs for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. Int J Heat Mass Transf 163: 120497.
[8] Qiu D, Peng L, Lai X, Ni M, Lehnert W (2019) Mechanical failure and mitigation strategies for the membrane in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 113: 109289.
[9] Hami M, Mahmoudimehr J (2025) Influence of flow configuration on heat-up and start-up processes of multi-channel solid oxide fuel cell: A comprehensive multi-criteria study. Appl Therm Eng 264: 125526.
[10] Park J, Li X (2007) An experimental and numerical investigation on the cross flow through gas diffusion layer in a PEM fuel cell with a serpentine flow channel. J Power Sources 163(2):853-863.
[11] Ferng YM, Su A, Lu SM (2008) Experiment and simulation investigations for effects of flow channel patterns on the PEMFC performance. Int J Energy Res 32(1):12-23.
[12] Obayopo SO, Bello-Ochende T, Meyer JP (2012) Modelling and optimization of reactant gas transport in a PEM fuel cell with a transverse pin fin insert in channel flow. Int J Hydrogen Energy 37(13): 10286-10298.
[13] Bilgili M, Bosomoiu M, Tsotridis G (2015) Gas flow field with obstacles for PEM fuel cells at different operating conditions. Int J Hydrogen Energy 40(5): 2303-2311.
[14] Toghyani S, Nafchi FM, Afshari E, Hasanpour K, Baniasadi E, Atyabi S (2018) Thermal and electrochemical performance analysis of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell under assembly pressure on gas diffusion layer. Int J Hydrogen 43(9): 4534-4545.
[15] Chen H, Liu B, Zhang T, Pei P (2019) Influencing sensitivities of critical operating parameters on PEMFC output performance and gas distribution quality under different electrical load conditions. Appl Energy 255: 113849.
[16] Rezazadeh S, Rasouli Garaveran M,  Ahmadi N, Sadeghi H (2020) Experimemtal and Numerical Analysis of Bipolar width and Gas Channels Geometrical Configuration Effect on Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel cell. J Solid Fluid Mech 10(4): 357-372.
[17] Xia L, Xu Q, He Q, Ni M, Seng M (2021) Numerical study of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) with a focus on rib design. Int J Hydrogen Energy 46(40): 21098-21111.
[18] Ghasabehi M, Shams M, Kanani H (2021) Multi-objective optimization of operating conditions of an enhanced parallel flow field proton exchange membrane fuel cell. Energy Convers Manag 230: 113798.
[19] Rosli MI, Lim BH, Majlan EH, Husaini T, Daud WRW, Lim SF (2022) Performance analysis of PEMFC with single-channel and multi-channels on the impact of the geometrical model. Energies 15(21):7960.
[20] Pashaki MK, Mahmoudimehr J (2023) Performance superiority of an arc-shaped polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell over a straight one. Int J Hydrogen Energy 48(36): 13633-13649.
[21] Ashrafi H, Ahmadi SN, Pormahmod N, Mirzaee I, Damya A, Khalilzadegan A (2023) Investigating the effect of the geometry of gas injection channels on the performance and dynamic behavior of the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. J Solid Fluid Mech 13(2): 121-128.
[22] Zahed RP, Mahmoudimehr J, Amanifard N (2023) Performance superiority of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with corrugated gas diffusion layer: A numerical study. Int J Hydrogen Energy 48(87):34018-34033.
 
[23] Fu L, Lin H, Liu J, Hua Z, Qiu N (2024) Optimization of sinusoidal wave-like channel design for HT-PEMFCs based on genetic algorithm. Int J Heat Mass Transf 232: 125964.
[24] Yang X, Xiang Q, Fang D, Sun S, Hao J, Xie F, Shao Z (2024) Simulation and experimental investigation of a novel chain-shaped flow field for proton exchange membrane fuel cell. Energy Convers Manag 315:118797.
[25] Li H, Xu B, Lu G, Du C, Huang N (2021) Multi-objective optimization of PEM fuel cell by coupled significant variables recognition, surrogate models and a multi-objective genetic algorithm. Energy Convers Manag 236:114063.
[26] Akbari MH, Rismanchi B (2008) Numerical investigation of flow field configuration and contact resistance for PEM fuel cell performance. Renew Energy 33(8):1775-1783.
[27] Siegel NP, Ellis MW, Nelson DJ, von Spakovsky MR (2004) A two-dimensional computational model of a PEMFC with liquid water transport. J Power Sources 128: 173-184.
[28] Mahmoudimehr J, Darbandi A (2016) Technical study of a PEM fuel cell on the Psychrometric chart. Int J Hydrogen Energy 41(1): 607-613.
[29] Guvelioglu GH, Stenger HG (2005) Computational fluid dynamics modeling of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. J Power Sources 147(1-2):95-106.
[30] Bilgili M, Bosomoiu M, Tsotridis G (2015) Gas flow field with obstacles for PEM fuel cells at different operating conditions. Int J Hydrogen Energy 40(5): 2303-2311.
[31] Torkavannejad A, Sadeghifar H, Pourmahmoud  N, Ramin F (2015) Novel architectures of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: efficiency enhancement and cost reduction. Int J Hydrogen Energy 40(36):12466-12477.
[32] Kahveci EE, Taymaz I (2018) Assessment of single-serpentine PEM fuel cell model developed by computational fluid dynamics. Fuel 217: 51-58.
 
Journal of Solid and Fluid Mechanics
Volume 15, Issue 4
September and October 2025
Pages 71-90

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics