Huan-Ruei Shiu

Mechanical design and analysis of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack

Abstract This paper presents a methodology to design, analyze, and improve the mechanical responses of a practical proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack. Parametrical modelling, finite element analysis (FEA), and numerical optimization are implemented to study the PEMFC stack. Parametrical models are developed according to the actual product, and then can be applied for a structural analysis. A practical assembly is analyzed with FEA, and design defects due to the stacked cell-units and the clamping method are studied. Through solving the defects, the design criterions are proposed to improve the PEMFC stack. A clamping method is proposed to generate a uniform distribution of the clamping pressure. A ribbed endplate designed with the clamping method is optimized to decrease its weight.

Numerical Analysis of Liquid Water Droplets Removal in Gas Channels of a PEM Fuel Cell

The present study is concerned with the dynamic behavior of the liquid water droplets in the water removal process in the serpentine channels of a PEM fuel cell based on computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation. The volume of fluid (VOF) model is adopted to trace the interface between the liquid and the gas phases such that the motion of the liquid droplets can be observed. Effects of the incoming velocity are evaluated. In addition, the surface hydrophobic properties are influential to the droplets motion; therefore, the contact angle of the liquid droplet attached on the channel wall has been varied. In addition, the orientation of the bipolar plate is regarded as another important parameter in the present study. Results show that among these parameters considered, the incoming flow velocity and the contact angle are two key parameters which greatly affect the dynamic behavior of the liquid droplets. The liquid droplets attached on the wall of the bipolar plate can be removed by the gas flow only when the contact angle or the incoming flow velocity is sufficiently high.Copyright