Enhancing PEMFC performance through orifice-shaped cathode flow field designs: A multiscale, multiphase simulation study on oxygen supply and water removal.

• PEMFC model has been applied to six different cathode flow field designs. • Cell performance is substantially improved by an orifice-shaped flow field design. • Improvement is around 70–170 mV at 2.5 A/cm2 compared to traditional designs. • Enhancement is mainly due to improved oxygen supply and water removal. In this study, a multiscale, multiphase polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) model was applied to simulate the cell performance of six cathode flow field designs. These designs included conventional flow field layouts (with trapezoidal and rectangular cross-sections) as well as orifice-shaped flow field designs featuring various narrowing section arrangements. The simulation results indicated that, in general, the orifice-shaped flow field designs yielded higher oxygen concentrations within the cathode side and exhibited superior water removal capabilities compared to conventional flow field designs. This study further revealed that the positioning of the narrowing section significantly influences cell performance, with enhanced performance noted in the orifice-shaped design that incorporated a zigzag pattern between adjacent channels. This pattern outperformed the side-by-side arrangement, implying that the zigzag configuration offers a superior advantage in optimizing oxygen supply and water removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]