Fluid Mechanics of Serpentine Flow Fields on a Porous Media

Laminar flows are investigated in single and double parallel serpentine channels mounted on a porous media and it is found that significant convective transport occurs in porous media for practical fuel cell conditions. This transport increases with increasing flow Reynolds number, with decreasing land width, and most significantly with increasing channel length.

Increasing the number of parallel channels significantly decreases the pressure drop across the fuel cell, but also significantly decreases the magnitude of convective transport in the porous media. Increased parasitic loads must be put in the context of the change in electrochemical performance.

This paper presents both data and a methodology for beginning to think about flow field design from a hydrodynamic perspective.