Numerical Simulation of Heat/Mass Transfer in a Single Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell with Serpentine Fluid Channels

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has become the promising candidate for power source of electrical vehicle for its advantage characteristics as no pollution, low noise and especially fast startup under common temperature. A three-dimensional, non-isothermal and two-phase mathematical model based on computation fluid dynamics is developed to describe flow and heat transfer process of a PEMFC with serpentine fluid channel. The effects of phase change and temperature as well as two-phase flow and transport, electrochemical kinetics, and multicomponent transport on cell performance are accounted for simultaneously in this comprehensive model. The developed model was employed to simulate a single laboratory scale PEMFC with electrode area about 12 cm(2).