An experimental study of cell performance and pressure drop of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with baffled flow channels

The pressure drops and pumping powers in flow channels of proton exchange membrane fuel cells are major standards to evaluate flow channel structures. Baffled flow channels provide higher performance, while the pressure drop and pumping power both aggravate. In this work, the impact of baffle leeward length on power output and pressure drops of proton exchange membrane fuel cells are experimentally studied. The pumping power, net power and power efficiency are calculated as well. Experimental results indicate that pressure drops increase when adding baffles in channels, and longer leeward lengths result in lower pressure drops. Higher cell temperature results in lower pressure drops. The time consuming for stabilizing pressure drop are shortened when using baffles having longer leeward lengths. The net power is increased when using larger baffles, and the highest net powers occur under the temperature of 333K or 343K. In addition, raising the cell temperature can increase the power efficiency, and when the leeward lengths of baffles are decreased, the power efficiency is also decreased. When using baffle without sloping leeward sides, the power efficiency can be decreased to 45.14% under lower cell temperature of 323K.