Effect of multi-channel shape design on dynamic behavior of liquid water in PEMFC.

A well-designed flow channel is crucial for effective water management in proton exchange membrane fuel cell. This study presents novel simulation investigation of the dynamic behavior of liquid water in three-dimensional multi-channels with various shape designs, including straight channel (SC), blocked channel (BC), wave channel (WC), and tapered channel (TC). The first, second, and third single channels are arranged in order from gas inlet in multi-channel. The results indicate that drainage rate of first channel in multi-channel is slower than that of second and third channel. Among the four designs, BC and TC reduced water ejection time by 7 ms and 6.5 ms respectively compared to SC, and reduced the time by 39 ms and 38.5 ms respectively compared to WC. In base case, drag reduction rate of TC compared to BC and WC increased by 4.12% and 20.98% respectively. However, WC has the smallest water coverage and average drag reduction ratio, while SC has a lower average gas flow resistance coefficient. This research offers innovative perspectives and theoretical foundations for current flow field design. • Dynamic behavior of liquid water in multi-channels with varying shapes is studied. • The average inlet velocity gradually increases from the first to the third channel. • The blocked channel and tapered channel exhibit better drainage performance. • Wave multi-channel demonstrates lowest water coverage and drag reduction ratio. • Straight multi-channel presents the lowest average flow resistance coefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]