Numerical study of cooling characteristics for liquid cooling proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

Abstract

To address critical thermal management challenges in low-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), this investigation establishes a three-dimensional steady-state numerical model of a single-channel PEMFC system. The developed model systematically examines liquid cooling system characteristics through parametric analysis of four key operational factors: (1) coolant inlet temperature (2) counter-flow configuration (3) coolant velocity (0.05-7 m/s range) (4) cooling channel cross-sectional geometry. Numerical results reveal three fundamental findings: 1.Cell voltage reduction induces intensified heat generation, causing the proton exchange membrane (PEM) to maintain the highest temperature among cell components (ΔT = 8.3 °C maximum observed). 2.Optimized counter-flow arrangements enhance thermal uniformity, achieving 23.6% reduction in PEM temperature gradient compared to co-flow configurations. 3.While increasing coolant velocity from 0.05 to 2 m/s decreases average PEM temperature by 5.2 °C (Q = 18.6 W/cm²), further velocity escalation to 7 m/s yields diminishing returns (< 0.5 °C improvement) with concomitant 68.4% pressure drop increase. Notably, triangular cooling channels demonstrated superior thermal performance with 75.77 °C average PEM temperature, albeit requiring 42% higher pumping power compared to conventional rectangular designs. These findings provide critical insights for thermal management system optimization in next-generation PEMFC applications.