Numerical simulation of hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cell with nickel foam flow field

Abstract The hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cell (HEMFC) is one of the most advanced fuel cells, showing high potential in fuel cell vehicles. In a HEMFC, the gas flow pattern and distribution are significant as air is introduced into flow field initially. However, few studies have focused on gas flow and no effective approach could predict and evaluate flow fields before they are manufactured. In this work, a novel approach based on a multi‐parameter function including pressure drop, velocity, and maldistribution factor was proposed to design and evaluate the hydrodynamics of flow fields. Models of nickel foam, single serpentine, and parallel flow fields were built via X‐ray computed tomography (CT) and direct fluid domain reconstruction. Numerical simulation with single‐phase flow was implemented to predict the pressure drop, velocity, and distribution. The pressure drop was validated experimentally with 3D printed plates and the relative error was less than 20%. The maldistribution factors (M f ) were proposed and calculated to estimate gas distribution. The M f of nickel foam flow field was 0.90–1.02, which was much lower than the M f of the parallel flow field (2.85–3.01) and the M f of the single serpentine (1.36–1.54). Combined with M f , average z velocity ( v z ), and pressure drop (P), the multi‐parameter‐function was proposed. The nickel foam flow field performed the best under single‐phase conditions.