A Study on Bioinspired Flow Field Patterns Used in PEM Fuel Cells

Abstract

The future energy demand forecast predicts the future energy deficit and the urgent need for bulk and clean energy production. Hence, the scientific communities across the globe are intensively researching on various disciplines to counter this energy deficit problem. The polymer-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is a vastly recommended source of electrical energy due to its alleviating features like good efficiency, high power density, quick start-up, and zero emissions. One of the key factors that influence the efficiency of a PEMFC is the design of flow field patterns (FFP) engraved over the bipolar plates (BP) of a cell. A good FFP can significantly affect the overall performance of a PEMFC cell stack. In our paper, we took three non-conventional bioinspired flow field patterns, namely fish scale-shaped, banana stem-shaped, and onion-shaped FFPs and compared them with the conventional serpentine FFP using ANSYS Fluent.