Computational Fluid Dynamics Study on Performance Variation of PEMFC with Serpentine Flow Fields According to Humidity Condition

Water management has been recognized as a crucial factor for achieving better performance and stability in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Proper water management should provide favorable water conditions, including the local humidity, membrane water content, and liquid water saturation in PEMFCs, thereby leading to more uniform electrochemical reaction and current generation. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was conducted to investigate the effects of the cathode relative humidity (RH) on the performance of a 3 by 3 cm(2) PEMFC with serpentine flow fields. The CFD results showed that the best performance of the PEMFC was obtained for the cathode RH of 80%, but the performance variation was small for the cathode RH range of 60 similar to 100%. However, the loss of the PEMFC performance was significant when the cathode RH was reduced below 40%. The reason for such performance variation was investigated through the detailed inspection of ohmic loss, activation and concentration overpotential, and water and current distributions.