Fuel cells possessing high potency and low pollution are well known and are considered the new generation of power technology. This study presents a novel bionic concept flow slab design to improve fuel cell performance. A series of 2D simulations was executed at Re=10 and 100 for the bionic flow and traditional flow slabs. In addition, the effect of aspect ratio was studied using 3D simulation. Numerical results obtained show that this novel bionic flow slab design will exhibit better performance than traditional flow slabs regardless of Reynolds numbers and aspect ratios because it possesses a more uniform velocity and a lower pressure drop. Finally, the performance in the bionic flow slab’s reaction area was determined to be superior. These findings show that the bionic concept and flow slab design addressed in this paper will be useful in enhancing fuel cell performance.

1.
Dyer
,
C. K.
, 2002, “
Fuel Cells for Portable Applications
,”
J. Power Sources
0378-7753,
106
, pp.
31
34
.
2.
McNicol
,
B. D.
,
Rand
,
D. A. J.
, and
Williams
,
K. R.
, 2001, “
Fuel Cells for Road Transportation Purposes—Yes or No?
,”
J. Power Sources
0378-7753
100
, pp.
47
89
.
3.
Acres
,
G. J. K.
, 2001, “
Recent Advances in Fuel Cell Technology and Its Applications
,”
J. Power Sources
0378-7753
100
, pp.
60
66
.
4.
Costamagna
,
P.
, and
Srinivasan
,
S.
, 2001, “
Quantum Jumps in the PEMFC Science and Technology From the 1960s to the Year 2000 Part II. Engineering, Technology Development and Application Aspects
,”
J. Power Sources
0378-7753
102
(
1–2
), pp.
253
269
.
5.
Bernay
,
C.
,
Marchand
,
M.
, and
Cassir
,
M.
, 2002, “
Prospects of Different Fuel Cell Technologies for Vehicle Applications
,”
J. Power Sources
0378-7753
108
, pp.
139
152
.
6.
Nguyen
,
T. V.
, and
White
,
R. E.
, 1993, “
A Water and Heat Management Model for Proton-Exchange-Membrane Fuel Cells, The Journal of Electrochemical Society
,”
J. Electrochem. Soc.
0013-4651
140
, pp.
2178
2186
.
7.
Nguyen
,
T. V.
, 1996, “
A Gas Distributor Design for Proton-Exchange-Membrane Fuel Cells
,”
J. Electrochem. Soc.
0013-4651
143
(
5
), pp.
L103
L105
.
8.
Kazim
,
A.
,
Liu
,
H. T.
and
Forges
,
P.
, 1999, “
Modeling of Performance of PEM Fuel Cell With Conventional and Interdigitated Flow Fields
,”
J. Appl. Electrochem.
0021-891X
29
, pp.
1409
1416
.
9.
Singh
,
D.
,
Lu
,
D. M.
and
Djilali
,
N.
, 1999, “
A Two-Dimensional Analysis of Mass Transport in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
,”
Int. J. Eng. Sci.
0020-7225
37
, pp.
431
452
.
10.
Kulikovsky
,
A. A.
, 2001, “
Numerical Simulation of a New Operational Regime for a Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell
,”
Electrochem. Commun.
1388-2481
3
, pp.
460
466
.
11.
Nguyen
,
T. V.
, and
Knobbe
,
M. W.
, 2003, “
A Liquid Water Management Strategy for PEM Fuel Cell Stacks
,”
J. Power Sources
0378-7753
114
, pp.
70
79
.
12.
Vielstich
,
W.
,
Lamm
,
A.
, and
Gasteiger
,
H.
, 2003,
Handbook of Fuel Cells: Fundamentals, Technology, Application
,
Wiley
,
New York
.
13.
Satija
,
R.
,
Jacobson
,
D. L.
, and
Arif
,
M.
,
Werner
,
S. A.
, 2004, “
In Situ Neutron Imaging Technique for Evaluation of Water Management Systems in Operating PEM Fuel Cells
,”
J. Power Sources
0378-7753
129
, pp.
238
245
.
14.
Bellow
,
R. J.
,
Lim
,
M. Y.
, and
Arif
,
M.
,
Thompson
,
A. K.
, and
Jacobson
,
D.
, 1999, “
Neutron Imaging Technique for In Situ Measurement of Water Transport Gradients Within Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells
,”
J. Electrochem. Soc.
0013-4651
146
, pp.
1099
1103
.
15.
Wang
,
C. Y.
, 2004, “
Fundamental Models for Fuel Cell Engineering
,”
Chem. Rev. (Washington, D.C.)
0009-2665
104
, pp.
4727
4766
.
You do not currently have access to this content.