Reactant Gas Flow Fields in Advanced PEM Fuel Cell Designs

A mathematical model of the two-phase flow in a fuel cell gas channel is developed and used to predict the mass, momentum, and thermal distributions of a multi-component gas and liquid water mixture on the cathode side. Regions where flooding may occur are demonstrated by using the model evaluated with various operating conditions typical of fuel cell operations. Conditions where dry, saturated, and two-phase flows are introduced into the channel are demonstrated and the results compared. These results show the distribution of water and heat in the channel which may be used to design better flow channels.