Development of bipolar plates with different flow channel configurations based on plant vein for fuel cell

In this paper, a kind of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) bipolar plate based on plant vein is developed through biomimetic analogy theory. Fluent software is employed to test the performance characteristics of this newly designed bipolar plate. It is found from the numerical simulation results that the PEMFC performance will be influenced by the number and location of the biomimetic flow channel branches. The distribution pattern of branches has great impact on the outlet velocity. The more the branch number is, the more favorable for water removal. Finally, different operating parameters, such as temperature, pressure, relative humidity and stoichiometric ratio, are chosen based on the optimal flow channel configuration to improve PEMFC performance. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.