Manufacturing Process of Laboratory Bipolar Plates Designed with Gas Flow Simulation

Abstract

In present paper a low-resource-demanding targeted manufacturing technique is demonstrated for serpentine-structured bipolar plates (BPPs) for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) test systems. In the phase of the technical design, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted to analyze the BPPs during continuous operation. The simulations revealed that the proposed 4-serpentine flow field with channel and land width of 1 mm and channel depth of 2 mm effectively distributes reactant gases across the active area of the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA), minimizing stagnant flow regions under operating conditions. The CFD simulations demonstrated that the flow channel design facilitated efficient water drainage, reducing the risk of water accumulation that could impede gas diffusion and decrease cell performance. Water mole fraction at the outlet was calculated to 0.3, while power dissipation density of the active areas reached homogeneously 5.4 × 10⁻³ W/m³. BPPs with the appropriate structure were manufactured through a cost-efficient Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) milling technique highly appropriate for unique production of test cell components.