Cooling of PEM Fuel Cell Stacks Using Open-Cell Metal Foam

Abstract

For safe and efficient operation of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), effective thermal management is needed. This study presents the use of aluminum foam in PEMFC’s thermal management using forced air. An analytical study was performed using a bipolar plate air-cooled channel to examine the effects of operating temperatures on fuel cells and to study heat transfer and temperature distribution in the stack. In the simulation, the heat transfer and fluid flow for a thin layer of metal foam inserted between two bipolar plates of fuel cell stack were simulated using ANSYS-Fluent 19.2, and both the local thermal equilibrium and the local thermal non-equilibrium assumptions were applied. The outcomes, such as pressure drop through porous medium per plate length and plate maximum temperatures, were calculated. The temperature profile distributions were drawn, and the comparison between two models was investigated. Based on this simulation, a new design was provided to improve the thermal design of an air-cooled fuel cell by using metal foam.