Fuel cell

The customer

• Size: Small-medium company
• Sector: Fuel cell manufacturer
• Country: United Kingdom

The Project

• Size: 100-120 man-hours
• Duration: 3-4 weeks

The Problem

• Liquid water accumulation in the serpentine channels
• Thermal performance unknown in the stack
• Impact on the stack temperature of the air velocity

Proposed solution

• Model water generation and removal in the cathode
• Assess thermal performance for the full fuel cell stack

The simulations

• Multi-phase dynamic CFD simulation for the water transport (CFD analysis)
• Thermal CFD model for the fuel stack. Momentum, mass, species and energy balance was solved. (CFD analysis)

Project overall results

• Optimised serpentine geometry for minimised flooding risk. Stack thermal management assessed.
• Savings over £14,000 for the customer in prototyping and testing (estimate).
• Savings of more than 8 weeks in development time (estimate).