Numerical and Experimental Investigations on an Angular Approach Flowfield (AAF) Geometry for PEM Water Electrolyzers

In this study, we introduce and investigate a new 3D flow-field geometry for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) called Angular Approach Flowfield (AAF) geometry. The performance of this AAF geometry (V2.0 and V2.1) is compared to the conventional triple-serpentine triple-serpentine (TSHM) geometry through numerical modeling and in-situ testing. The AAF geometry showed a better performance than the conventional one with higher current densities (+22% ) and lower internal resistance. These improvements are mainly due to AAF’s better reactant distribution and subsequent lower mass transport losses. The AAF V2.1 shows intermediate performance that was better than TSHM but lower than AAF V2.0. These findings make this new geometry a promising design for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) and show that developing new optimized flow-field geometries can improve performance and possibly reduce the cost of electrolyzers and push toward wider adoption of this technology.