Novel Design of Obstacles with Different Spacing in the Cooling Channel for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Heat accumulation and temperature gradients within proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) critically impact both performance and longevity. Optimizing cooling channel designs is an effective strategy to enhance internal thermal management in PEMFCs. This study develops a three-dimensional multiphase model to evaluate the influence of obstacle positioning within cooling channels, the thermal management performance of obstructed versus smooth channels, the arrangement of cooling channel inlet directions, and the effect of coolant inlet temperature on cell performance. The results demonstrate that varying inlet velocities across different channel locations require unique obstacle configurations, with distances of 10 mm, 8.3 mm, 8 mm, and 7.1 mm corresponding to four respective inlet velocities. In obstructed channels, the maximum membrane temperature decreased by 0.5 K, hydration levels increased by 1.47, and IUT improved by an increase of 1.177. Co-position and counter-flow arrangements between cooling and gas channels significantly enhanced temperature uniformity and heat exchange efficiency by 21.7%, reducing the average membrane temperature by 0.52 K and achieving a maximum power density of 0.7515 W/cm2, a 4.38% improvement over the standard setup. With a coolant inlet temperature of 338 K, membrane hydration exceeded 10, yielding the highest power density among the tested temperatures at 0.5824 W/cm2.