i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 6 1 8 e2 9 6 3 0

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Numerical simulation and experimental study on

the effect of symmetric and asymmetric bionic flow
channels on PEMFC performance under gravity

Shihua Liu, Tao Chen*, Yi Xie, Jiwei Zhang, Chaoqun Wu

School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China

highlights

Water transport in bionic flow channel is simulated.

Water transport in bionic flow channel is studied by visualization experiments.

The pressure variation in symmetric bionic flow channel fluctuates up and down.

The pressure variation in asymmetric bionic flow channel is relatively flat.

The gravity affects the water transport process in bionic flow channel.

article info abstract

Article history: In proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), bionic flow field design is to apply the
Received 20 December 2018 biological characteristics of nature to the structure design of flow field. The flow field
Received in revised form designed by bionics can improve the water balance of the fuel cell and make the fuel
27 May 2019 distribute uniformly in the flow field. In order to study the PEMFC performance of sym-
Accepted 9 June 2019 metric and asymmetric bionic flow channel under gravity, the simulation and visualization
Available online 2 July 2019 experiments are used to study the bionic flow channel in different orientations. Under the
influence of gravity, the distribution characteristics of liquid water are changed in the flow
Keywords: channel, and the difference of the transport process of liquid water in two different bionic
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell flow channel under gravity is obtained. The results of the simulation and visualization
(PEMFC) experiments show that the gravity has a significant effect on the transport process of liquid
Water transport water in the bionic flow channel, and the water transport process in the two types of bionic
Bionic flow channel flow channel is obviously different. Meanwhile, the performance of the fuel cells with two
Numerical investigation bionic flow channel at different orientations is tested by experiments. The results show
Experiment that gravity has a significant effect on the performance of PEMFC with bionic flow field. And
there are significant differences between symmetrical and asymmetric bionic flow channel
on PEMFC performance. The results of IeV curve show that when the PEMFC with asym-
metric bionic flow channel has the best performance in the orientation of perpendicularity.
© 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (T. Chen).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.06.046
0360-3199/© 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 6 1 8 e2 9 6 3 0 29619

transport and the factors that affect liquid water transport are
Introduction understood. However, the existing researches mainly focus on
the water transport process in conventional flow channel,
As a new clean energy device, the proton exchange membrane such as single flow channel. Few scholars have conducted
fuel cell (PEMFC) has a wide application prospect because of its simulation research on the water transport process in bionic
high fuel efficiency and zero emission. The past several de- flow channel. And the performance of bionic flow channel
cades have been seen extensive efforts to improve the fuel cell differs from that of conventional flow channel partly because
(FC) performance. Effective water management is a key to of the difference in drainage [18]. Therefore, a numerical study
achieving a desired performance of a FC [1]. Excess water can of liquid water in conventional flow channel is not enough to
create a “flooding” issue in FCs. In this case, it is easy to block fully explain the phenomenon of water transport in bionic
the gas transmission channel in the flow field, resulting in a flow channel. With the development of bionic design in recent
shortage of local fuel supply and the phenomenon of “fuel years, many researchers have applied bionic method to the
starvation” [2,3]. Furthermore, the flooding phenomenon may design of flow channel [19e27], thus improving the water
lead to the corrosion of carbon due to the high local potential management of FC. Chen et al. [18] studies the structure of a
[4,5], and seriously cause a thermal breakdown of the mem- symmetrical leaf-shaped bionic flow field. It is found that the
brane [6], meaning the service life and working safety of FCs distribution of water in the bionic flow field is more uniform
decrease significantly. Therefore, it is very important to than that of the single serpentine and parallel flow fields.
improve the water management strategy of FCs. Adnan et al. [24] designed the cathode flow field plate of FC
In order to improve the water management strategy of FCs, with symmetrical bionic flow field. The experimental results
many researchers have studied the water transport phe- show that this kind of FC can achieve higher performance,
nomenon in various ways. So far, the most studies involve the ascribing to the improvement of water management. Asad-
methods of visualization technology [7e10] and computer zade et al. [25] used simulation method to study the FC per-
simulation [11e14], or the combination of these two methods formance of a symmetrical bionic flow field. The results show
[15e17] to study the water transport state in FCs. Thus, the that this kind of bionic flow field has better water manage-
mechanism of water transport inside the FC can be clarified ment strategy. Chen et al. [26] also studies the FC performance
better. ZG Zhan et al. [8] has used visualization technology to of the asymmetric leaf-shaped bionic flow field. Compared
study the water transport process in transparent FCs. The with the parallel flow field, the distribution of water in the
results show that depending on gas flow rates, water exist asymmetric bionic flow field is more uniform. Wang et al. [27]
different chemical state in FC. Lee et al. [9] designs a new type studies the characteristics of flow and heat transport in
of transparent FC and studies the phenomenon of water symmetric and asymmetric bionic flow fields. Summarizing
flooding in single FC and stack by visualization technology. the flow field structures of these bionic designs, it can be
The results show that the water flooding on the anode side of found that these structures are mainly divided into two types,
the single FC is serious, and the voltage fluctuation will be one is symmetric flow field distribution structure, the other is
caused by the flooding in the stack. M. Koz et al. [13] studies asymmetric flow field distribution structure. From these
the effects of droplet size, flow velocity, and variations in studies, it can be concluded that applying the bionic design
vapor content in air due to operational temperature changes principle to the structural design of the flow channel in the FC
based on the simulation results. Cai Y et al. [14] numerically not only can significantly improve the water management
studies the dynamic characteristics of water in the serpentine strategy, but also improve the uniformity of the fuel distri-
channel, and the influence of corner shapes, the number of bution in the flow field. Moreover, the performance of FC can
inlet pores and the inlet velocity of air and water on the be improved obviously. However, these studies did not clarify
transport process of water in the flow channel is discussed. the drainage mechanism of the bionic design, so that the
Masuda et al. [15] combined the methods of numerical simu- characteristics of drainage could not be understood well.
lation and visualization experiments to study the water Therefore, it is unfavorable to optimize the design of bionic
transport characteristics in FCs. Yuan et al. [16] studies the flow channel.
effect of gravity on the internal transmission phenomenon In addition to the structure of the bionic flow field, the
and working performance of methanol FC by means of water management strategy of the FC is also affected by the
simulation and visualization experiments. The results of gravity environment. According to the relevant research
simulation show that the concentration distribution of the literature, gravity will affect the drainage performance of the
reactants is more uniform under the consideration of gravity, cathode side of the FC [28]. When the FC is placed in different
and the simulation results are in good agreement with the orientations, the flow and distribution of water in the flow
experimental results. Ashrafi et al. [17] studies the influence of channel will be affected by the varied gravities of water,
the orientation of the serpentine flow field on the water resulting in the change of FC performance [29e34]. However,
management strategy by means of simulation and visualiza- these studies mainly focus on the traditional parallel flow field
tion experiments, and the internal water transport charac- or single serpentine flow field, and the study on the drainage
teristics of the flow field under different placement directions characteristics of bionic flow field in gravity environment has
are obtained. not been reported.
It can be seen from these studies that the combination of It can be seen from the mentioned literature that gravity is
visual observation and computer simulation provides reliable an essential factor to determining the water distribution and
proofs to illustrate the characteristics and phenomenon of operational performance of FCs [35]. Therefore, to optimize
water transport in the FC. The detailed process of liquid water the design of bionic flow field, it is very important to study
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the transport characteristics of liquid water in bionic flow Geometric model and boundary conditions
channel in gravity environment. In this paper, the transport
process of liquid water in bionic flow channel is studied. Fig. 1 is a model of two different bionic flow channel struc-
According to the existing bionic structure type, two types of tures. These two bionic structures are derived from Ref. [27]. A
symmetrical and asymmetric bionic flow channel are water inlet hole of 0.2 mm diameter is arranged on the gas
selected to study the transport process of liquid water in bi- diffusion layer (GDL) wall near the inlet of the bionic flow
onic flow channel. Numerical simulation method and visu- channel (The GDL wall is the interface between the channel
alization technology are used to study the transport process and the GDL) [14]. In the parameters settings of the simulation,
of liquid water in the bionic flow channel, and the influence a gas velocity of 10 ms1 normal to the boundary is used [38].
of gravity on the transport process of liquid water is studied Moreover, according to the theoretical calculation of the ve-
when the bionic flow channel is placed in different orienta- locity of water, about 1.8  106 ms1, which is too small
tions. The working performance of the FCs with the two bi- compared with 10 ms1 of gas inlet [39]. Therefore, to accel-
onic flow channel in different orientations is studied erate the speed of computational, the velocity of water with
experimentally, which proves that the influence of gravity on 0.1 ms1 normal to the boundary is used in this study [39]. And
the internal water transport process of the FC results in the the gauge pressure at the outlet of the flow channel is set to
change of its working performance. The results of the study 0Pa. In all the computational cases, the gravity is considered
can provide a clear understanding of the drainage process all the time according to the different placement orientations
inside the bionic flow channel, and provide necessary guid- of the flow channel. Furthermore, The contact angles of the
ance and basis for the optimization design of the bionic flow wall surfaces of the GDL and flow channel are set to 140 and
channel. 45 , respectively [40]. The time step is set at 106 s to guarantee
that the global courant number is less than one. The surface
tension at the gas-liquid interface is 0.072 Nm1. Finally, in
Numerical simulation order to solve the governing equations, the pressure velocity
coupling method via the PISO scheme is used.
VOF model In a word, the characteristics of water flow in the bionic
flow channel are simulated. The five cases corresponding to
The numerical simulations of the 3D, laminar, unsteady, two- different placement orientations are simulated as well, as
phase flow is applied to the computation domain by using listed in Table .1. Detailed results and discussions are as
FLUENT 15.0. The conservation of mass and momentum, follows.
working as energy equations, are applied to the model, while
the energy equations are not considered. In addition, in order Validation of grid independency
to track the two-phase flow interface of gas-water, the method
of volume-of-fluid (VOF) is used [36]. Then, the conservation FLUENT 15.0 is used to simulate water dynamic in the bionic
law of mass and momentum are as follows: flow channel. The number of meshes of symmetrical leaf bi-
Continuity equation: onic flow channel is 221674, and the number of meshes of
asymmetrical leaf bionic flow channel is 232583. Accuracy of
vr .
þ V$ðr v Þ ¼ 0 (1) the model are tested by increasing and reducing the number
vt
of meshes by 20%, and the similar processes of water trans-
Momentum equation: port are obtained.
. .. . . .
vðr v Þ=vt þ V$ðr v v Þ ¼ Vp þ V$ð t Þ þ r g þ F (2)
.
where F is the momentum source term due to surface tension, Simulation results and discussions
.
r is the static pressure and t is the stress tensor:
In order to investigate the characteristics of water transport
h . .T
 .
i
. inside the computation domain, the water transport process
t ¼m V v þ V v  2=3V$ v I (3)
inside the symmetrical and asymmetric bionic flow channel
Where I is the unit tensor, m is the dynamic viscosity. under gravity are studied by computer simulation with VOF
Volume fraction of water a2 can be solved as follows: model. And the detailed results and discussions for different
bionic flow channel are given below.
va2 .
þ v $Va2 ¼ 0 (4)
vt
The water transport characteristics of symmetrical bionic
The volume fraction of gas a1 can be solved by following flow channel under gravity
equation:
Fig. 2 shows the transport status of liquid water in the flow
a1 þ a2 ¼ 1 (5)
channel at the time of 15 ms in five different placement ori-
The surface tension of phase and wall has an important entations (side, inversion, reversal, perpendicularity, level) for
influence on the transmission process of two-phase flow symmetric bionic flow channel. As can be seen from Fig. 2,
which is included in the VOF model [36]. In the paper, the when symmetrical bionic flow channel are placed in different
model of continuum surface force which is proposed by orientations, liquid water occurs in branch flow channels near
Brackbill et al. [37] is used. the gas inlet (such as outlet-1, outlet-9, etc.). While less liquid
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Fig. 1 e Schematic of two different bionic flow channel: (a) Symmetrical bionic flow channel (b) Asymmetrical bionic flow channel.

Table 1 e The gravity in different placement orientations of bionic flow channel.

Orientation of flow channel X axial gravity/(ms2) Y axial gravity/(ms2) Z axial gravity/(ms2)
Side 0 9.8 0
Inversion 9.8 0 0
Reversal 0 0 9.8
Perpendicularity 9.8 0 0
Level 0 0 9.8

water is transported in branch flow channels away from gas The water transport characteristics of asymmetrical bionic
inlet (such as outlet-4, outlet-6, etc.). When the symmetrical flow channel under gravity
bionic flow channel is in the side orientation, the liquid water
transport in the branch flow channel near the gas inlet is As can be seen from Fig. 2(a), (c) and (d), when asymmetric
obvious. When the symmetrical bionic flow channel is in the bionic flow channel are placed in the orientations of side,
orientations of inversion, reversal, perpendicularity and level, reversal, and perpendicularity, the internal liquid water is
the liquid water will move along the main flow channel, and apparently discharged from the main flow channel, but some
flows into the branch flow channel when it passes here. liquid water is also discharged from the branch flow channel.
Comparing with Fig. 2(a)e(e), we can see that the distribution There is liquid water in the branch flow channel far away
of liquid water in the flow channel is different when the from the inlet, which is significantly different from the dis-
symmetrical bionic flow channel is placed in five different tribution of water in the branch flow channel of the sym-
orientations. The reason for this phenomenon is that the metrical bionic flow channel closer to the gas inlet. As can be
gravity direction of the liquid water in the flow channel seen from Fig. 2(b) and (e), when asymmetric bionic flow
changes with respect to the orientations of the flow channel. channel are placed in inversion and level orientations, the
Therefore, it leads to the change of the force characteristics of liquid water inside the flow channel is still growing and
the liquid water, which affects its transport and distribution. there's no apparent movement. And this is obviously
As a result of the change of force characteristics of water different from the water transport characteristics in the
under the influence of gravity, the difference in distribution symmetric bionic flow channel under these two orientations.
characteristics of water is also reflected in the traditional By comparison with Fig. 2(a), (c), (d) and 2(b) and (e), we can
single serpentine flow field [17]. see that when the asymmetric bionic flow channel is in the
29622 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 6 1 8 e2 9 6 3 0

Fig. 2 e State of water in symmetrical and asymmetrical flow channel in different orientations at the time of 15 ms

orientations of side, reversal and perpendicularity, the liquid the force characteristics of the liquid water, further affects its
water is mainly distributed. But the liquid water is difficult to transport and distribution. These results are consistent with
move when the flow channel is in the orientation of inver- those in other literature on the effects of gravity on water
sion and level. Therefore, the gravity direction of the liquid transport and distribution [17]. This phenomenon also indi-
water in the flow channel changes with respect to the ori- cate that gravity influences the transport of liquid water in
entations of the flow channel, which results in the change of asymmetric bionic flow channel.
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fAs can be seen from Figs. 3 and 4, the pressure difference in the asymmetric bionic flow channel is decreasing along the
is large in the branch flow channel near the gas inlet, and the main flow channel direction. Therefore, When the length of
pressure difference is smaller in the branch flow channel the main flow channel and the number of branches of the two
away from the gas inlet. Because large pressure differences bionic flow channel are equal, respectively, the distribution
can rapidly drain the accumulated liquid water from the flow density of the number of branch flow channel in the asym-
channel [41], it is difficult to discharge liquid water from the metric bionic flow channel is greater than that in the sym-
branch flow channel away from the gas inlet. Therefore, the metrical bionic flow channel along the main flow channel
phenomenon of flow channel flooding, as reported in litera- direction. So, the pressure gradient in the main flow channel
ture [18], is more likely to occur where is far away from the gas of the asymmetric bionic flow channel is smaller and the
inlet of the branch flow channel. From the simulation results, pressure fluctuation is relatively smooth, which can be proved
we can see that when designing symmetric and asymmetric in Fig. 5. It can be seen from Fig. 5 that the pressure variation is
bionic flow channel, the branch of the bionic flow channel relatively smooth in the main flow channel of the asymmetric
should be closer to the gas inlet and the number of branch bionic flow channel, but the pressure fluctuation is larger in
flow channels should not be too large along the main flow the symmetrical bionic flow channel. The difference between
channel direction. This ensures that there is enough pressure pressure fluctuation and steady variation in the main flow
in the branch flow channel away from the gas inlet, which is channel of these two types of bionic flow channel leads to the
beneficial to the drainage. difference of drainage performance between them, and it also
By comparison with Figs. 3 and 4, we can see that the proves that the pressure fluctuation has certain influence on
pressure difference is consistent in the branch flow channel at the drainage process inside the flow channel, which can also
the symmetrical location of the symmetric bionic flow chan- be proved from other literature [42].
nel, while the pressure difference in each branch flow channel

Experimental results and discussion

Visualization experimental research

The simulation results show that the transport process of

liquid water is different in symmetric and asymmetric bionic
flow channel. Meanwhile, with the orientation of the flow
channel changing, the transport process of liquid water also
changes under the influence of gravity. In order to verify the
effect of gravity on the water transport process, two types of
bionic flow channel are experimentally fabricated and visu-
alized experiments are carried out. The geometric parameters
of the flow channel are shown in Table 2. As shown in Fig. 6,
Fig. 6(a) and (b) are symmetric and asymmetric bionic flow
channel, respectively, and Fig. 6(c) is a visual experimental
Fig. 3 e Pressure difference in each branch of symmetrical diagram of transparent FC made of bionic flow channel. The
bionic flow channel at different placement orientations. influence of gravity on the water transport is studied by
changing the orientation of bionic flow channel. In order to
eliminate the influence of the dry and wet degree on the water
transport process, the water in the flow channel is cleaned up
with pure nitrogen before each experiment under different
flow channel orientations is carried out. At the same time, the
injector is used to inject liquid water into the air inlet of the
flow channel. Because the velocity of liquid water is very slow,
the influence of the injected liquid water velocity on the flow
process can be neglected in the experiment. Finally, air peri-
staltic pump (BT-100-2 W) is used to simulate the process of
gas blowing through liquid water at a constant velocity into
the flow channel. The flow process of liquid water is recorded
by video camera (HD98) during the experiment.
The visualization experiment results of the internal water
transport of the bionic flow channel in five different place-
ment directions (side, inversion, reversal, perpendicularity
and level) are shown in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively. And Figs. 7
and 8 are images of liquid water just reaching the outlet
Fig. 4 e Pressure difference in each branch of asymmetrical location of the flow channel. As can be seen from Fig. 7(a),
bionic flow channel at different placement orientations. when the symmetrical bionic flow channel is in the side
orientation, the liquid water at the inlet flows along the bionic
29624 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 6 1 8 e2 9 6 3 0

Fig. 5 e Pressure drop of symmetric and asymmetric bionic flow channel in five different orientations.

flow channel under the sweeping action of air, and the liquid Fig. 7(b) shows the distribution of liquid water inside
water flowing is more obvious in the branch flow channel near symmetric bionic flow channel in inversion orientation, in
the gas inlet, and its velocity is faster. The liquid water in the which case the liquid water moves along the main flow
branch flow channel far away from the inlet is less, and its channel. When the liquid water passes through the branch
velocity is relatively slow. This is similar with the simulation flow channel, it will diffuse into the branch flow channel and
results in Fig. 2(a). According to the simulation results above, filled it. At the same time, the liquid water will continue to
the pressure at the position near the gas inlet is higher, and move forward both in the branch flow channel and the main
gradually decreases along the direction of the main flow flow channel, and the distribution of liquid water is more
channel. Therefore, the liquid water flows mainly from the uniform in the branch flow channel on both sides of the main
branch flow channel near the gas inlet, and the flow rate is flow channel. Fig. 7-(c) shows the distribution of liquid water
faster. Moreover, the liquid water content in the branch flow inside symmetric bionic flow channel in the reversal orien-
channel is obviously higher above the main flow channel than tation, in which case the liquid water also moves mainly along
that below the main flow channel. The reason for this phe- the main flow channel and reaches the gas outlet quickly.
nomenon is that the liquid water in the branch flow channel Liquid water also exists in the branch flow channel, but it
travels faster near the gas inlet and below the main flow moves slowly. Fig. 7(d) shows the distribution of liquid water
channel, which reaches the outlet of the branch flow channel in the flow channel under perpendicularity conditions, where
below the main flow channel. As a result, on the one hand, the liquid water flows from the main flow channel to the gas
outlet of these branch flow channel is blocked, so liquid water outlet quickly, with less liquid water in the branch flow
in the main flow channel is difficult to enter the branch flow channel. And the liquid water in the branch flow channel is
channel, and it shows a phenomenon of reflux at the outlet of symmetrically distributed. Fig. 7(e) shows the distribution of
these branch flow channel. On the other hand, there is no liquid water in the flow channel under level orientation,
liquid water at the outlet of the branch flow channel above the where the liquid water moves mainly rapidly from the main
main flow channel, so liquid water is relatively easy to enter flow channel, and it moves faster in the branch flow channel
there. This results in differences in liquid water content in the near the gas inlet, while the liquid water moves very slowly in
branch flow channel above and below the main flow channel. the branch flow channel away from the gas inlet. By

Table 2 e The parameters of geometric and operating for the PEMFC.

Geometric Parameters Value Operating Parameters Value
2
Active area (cm ) 25 Anode stoichiometry 2
Channel height (mm) 1 Cathode stoichiometry 2
Diffusion layer thickness (mm) 0.21 Operation temperature (K) 338.15
Catalyst layer thickness (um) 7.5 Humidity of anode 100%
Membrane thickness (um) 15 Humidity of cathode 100%
Porosity of GDL (ε) 0.78 Anode pressure (KPa) 150
Porosity of catalyst (ε) 0.5 Cathode pressure (KPa) 150
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Fig. 6 e Bionic flow field plate and visualization experiment (a) symmetrical bionic flow field plate (b) asymmetric bionic flow
field plate (c) visualization experiment.

synthetically comparing the liquid water distribution inside inlet. Fig. 8(d) shows the distribution of water in the flow
the symmetrical bionic flow channel under these five different channel under perpendicularity condition, in which the liquid
orientations, we can see that the distribution of liquid water in water mainly moves along the main flow channel. And the
the flow channel is different in each case. It is shown that content of the liquid water distribution in the branch flow
gravity has a significant effect on the transport process of channel decreases gradually along the direction of the main
liquid water. Moreover, the liquid water content in the flow flow channel. Fig. 8(e) shows the distribution of water in the
channel is the highest in the inversion orientation, which in- flow channel in the orientation of level, in which case the
dicates that the drainage performance is the worst in this liquid water moves faster both in the main flow channel and
case. In perpendicularity orientation, the liquid water content in the branch flow channel near the gas inlet, and the liquid
in the flow channel is the least, which indicates that the water content in the branch flow channel along the direction
drainage performance is the best in this case. of main flow channel is gradually decreasing. Compared with
Fig. 8(a) shows the distribution of liquid water in asym- the water distribution in the bionic flow channel under
metric bionic flow channel at the side orientation, in which different orientations in Fig. 8, the water content in the
case the liquid water in the flow channel is transported rapidly asymmetric bionic flow channel is the highest in the inversion
in the branch flow channel near the gas inlet. The outlet of orientation, which indicates that the drainage performance is
these branch flow channel is blocked by liquid water, and the poor in this case. When placed perpendicularity, the internal
reflux phenomenon is the same as in Fig. 7(a). Moreover, the water content of the asymmetric bionic flow channel is the
liquid water content in branch flow channel is higher above lowest, which indicates that the drainage performance is the
the main flow channel than that below the main flow channel, best in this case.
which phenomenon is the same as in Fig. 7(a). Fig. 8(b) shows Fig. 9 is a comparison of time that the flow of liquid water
the distribution of liquid water in the flow channel under the takes from the gas inlet to the gas outlet in the case of two
orientation of inversion, where liquid water moves mainly different bionic flow channel in different placement orienta-
along the main flow channel. And when the liquid water in the tions. It can be seen from the diagram that when the two bi-
main flow channel passes through the branch flow channel, it onic flow channel are in the inversion orientations, it takes the
flows into the branch flow channel, which is similar with the longest time for the liquid water to flow from the gas inlet to
result of water transport in symmetrical bionic flow channel. the gas outlet, and the shortest time for the perpendicularity
However, the distribution of liquid water in the branch flow orientation. Therefore, when the bionic flow channel is placed
channel on both sides of the main flow channel is not uniform in the inversion orientation, the velocity of liquid water
as in the branch flow channel of the symmetrical bionic flow flowing in the flow channel is the slowest, and when placed in
channel. The reason for this non-uniform distribution can be the perpendicularity orientation, the velocity is the fastest.
seen from the results of the simulation in Fig. 4 above, which The reason for this phenomenon is as described in literature
is mainly due to the uneven pressure distribution in the [31] that when the bionic flow channel is placed in the inver-
branch flow channel on both sides of the main flow channel of sion orientation, the direction of gravity of liquid water is
the asymmetric bionic flow channel. Fig. 8(c) is the distribu- opposite to the direction of its flow, and the movement of
tion of liquid water in the flow channel under the orientation liquid water is seriously hindered by gravity. When the bionic
of reversal. The liquid water is distributed in both the main flow channel is placed in the perpendicularity orientation, the
flow channel and the branch flow channel, and the liquid direction of gravity of liquid water is the same as that of water
water moves faster in the branch flow channel near the gas flow, and gravity promotes the movement of liquid water. And
29626 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 6 1 8 e2 9 6 3 0

Fig. 7 e Liquid water distribution in symmetrical bionic flow channel under different placement orientations (a) side (b)
inversion (c) reversal (d) perpendicularity (e) level.

the flow velocity of liquid water in asymmetric bionic flow performance is. In order to further verify the influence of
channel is generally faster than that in symmetrical bionic gravity on the water transport process in the bionic flow
flow channel, which indicates that the drainage performance channel, the performance of the FC under different orienta-
of asymmetric bionic flow channel is better. tions is tested by experiments. The geometric and operating
parameters of the FC are shown in Table 2. In order to ensure
Performance test experiment enough liquid water generation, the operating temperature of
the FC is always controlled at 65  C (338.15 K) during the
As shown in Fig. 10, an experimental diagram for performance experiment. Meanwhile, to ensure the consistency of the in-
testing of a FC with bionic flow field is presented. Both simu- ternal working environment of the FC in each different
lation and visualization experiments have shown that gravity placement orientation, pure nitrogen is used to fully blow
has a significant effect on the transport of liquid water in the away the interior of the FC before its performance is tested.
bionic flow channel. Because the working performance of FC The performance test results for each bionic flow channel
is closely related to its drainage performance [35], the better at different orientations are shown in Fig. 11. It can be seen
the drainage performance of FC is, the better its working from Fig. 11 that for two different types of bionic flow channel,
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 6 1 8 e2 9 6 3 0 29627

Fig. 8 e Liquid water distribution in asymmetric bionic flow channel under different placement orientations (a) side (b)
inversion (c) reversal (d) perpendicularity (e) level.

the FC performance is better under perpendicularity place- performance of FC. When the bionic flow channel is placed in
ment, and in inversion placement is the worst. The results the orientation of inversion, the angle between the direction
show that the placement orientation of the flow channel in- of gravity and the direction of the gas blowing force on the
fluences the performance of the FC, which is consistent with liquid water is greater than 90 . In this case, gravity obstructs
the results in literature [29]. The reason for this phenomenon the transport of water, and the liquid water is difficult to be
is that when the bionic flow channel is placed in the orien- discharged from the flow channel, which results in more
tation of perpendicularity, the angle between the direction of liquid water being accumulated in the flow channel. This
gravity and the direction of the gas blowing force on the liquid condition seriously hinders the reaction gas from reaching the
water is less than 90 . Therefore, gravity has an auxiliary reaction zone, thus seriously affecting the operating perfor-
drainage effect in this case. The liquid water can be quickly mance of the FC. However, the performance of the FC is not
discharged out of the flow channel, and the residual liquid inversely proportional to the time of liquid water flowing from
water content in the flow channel is less, so the reaction gas the gas inlet to the gas outlet. As can be seen from Figs. 9 and
can fully enter the reaction area, which leads to the better 11, compared with the results in the case of reversal and level,
29628 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 6 1 8 e2 9 6 3 0

6 the time of liquid water from the gas inlet to the gas outlet is
Symmetrical flow channel relatively short when the bionic flow channel is in the side
Asymmetrical flow channel orientation. But the performance of the FC is relatively poor
5
under the condition of side orientation. It can be seen from
Figs. 7 and 8 that the main reason for this phenomenon is that,
4
at the side orientation, liquid water in the flow channel rea-
ches the gas outlet rapidly from the main flow channel and
Time (s)

3 the branch flow channel near the gas inlet below the main
flow channel. During this process, the liquid water under the
2 main flow channel forms a large closed loop to wrap the
branch flow channel below the main flow channel, thus
forming a large blank area without water below the main flow
1
channel in Fig. 7(a) and Fig. 8(a). This results in a serious
shortage of fuel in the branch flow channel below the main
0 flow channel, which leads to poor FC performance in the case
Side Inversion Reversal Perpendicularity Level
of orientation. However, the phenomenon of closed loop is
Orientation of flow channel relatively slight in the case of reversal and level, so the per-
formance of the FC is relatively good in these two cases. By
Fig. 9 e The time it takes for liquid water to flow from the
comparing the performance of FCs with different orientations,
inlet to the outlet in bionic flow channel.
we can see that the performance of FCs is obviously different
under different orientations. The main reason for this phe-
nomenon is the difference of liquid water distribution in the
flow channel due to the influence of gravity, which affects the
fuel transport and distribution in the flow channel, and makes
the performance of the FC vary with different orientations. In
Ref. [29], it is also shown that the orientations of the flow
channel lead to the change in the distribution of liquid water,
which in turn leads to the change in the performance of the
FC. It is also shown in Refs. [28,31] that the orientations of the
flow channel lead to a change in the performance of the FC.
Fig. 12 shows a comparison of the performance of a FC with
a symmetrical and asymmetric bionic flow channel at the same
placement orientation. It can be seen from this diagram that no
matter where the bionic flow channel is, the performance of FC
with asymmetric bionic flow channel is better than that with
symmetric bionic flow channel. Because the water manage-
ment strategy of FC is closely related to its working perfor-
mance [35], the results in Fig. 12 also show that the water
Fig. 10 e Experimental diagram of performance test for
management strategy of asymmetric bionic flow channel is
PEMFC with bionic flow channel.
better than that of symmetrical bionic flow channel.

Asymmetrical flow channel Symmetrical flow channel

1.0

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
Voltage (V)

0.5

0.4

0.3 Side Side

Inversion Inversion
0.2
Reversal Reversal
0.1 Perpendicularity Perpendicularity
Level Level
0.0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Current density (A cm-2) Current density (A cm-2)

Fig. 11 e Performance curves of FCs with bionic flow channel at different orientations.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 6 1 8 e2 9 6 3 0 29629

1.0
Side Inversion Reversal Perpendicularity Level
0.9
0.8
0.7
Voltage (V)

0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
Asymmetrical flow channel Asymmetrical flow channel Asymmetrical flow channel Asymmetrical flow channel Asymmetrical flow channel
0.1
Symmetrical flow channel Symmetrical flow channel Symmetrical flow channel Symmetrical flow channel Symmetrical flow channel
0.0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.80.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.70.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Current density (A cm-2) Current density (A cm-2) Current density (A cm-2) Current density (A cm-2) Current density (A cm-2)

Fig. 12 e Performance comparison of FCs with two different bionic flow channel in the same orientation.

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