Bio-Inspired Design, Fabrication and Testing of Bipolar Plates for PEM Fuel Cells

该奖项的目的是提高质子交换膜燃料电池的功率密度使用生物启发的设计。 石墨复合材料双极板将被设计为具有复杂的流动路径，该流动路径是在叶片结构之后建模的，并使用选择性激光烧结制造，这是一种能够制造复杂设计的增材制造工艺。 设计的优化将基于数学流动模型，同时考虑到控制质量、动量、物质和电荷守恒。 将进行实验以验证功率密度与压力分布的有限元分析的准确性。 如果成功的话，这项研究有望为质子交换膜燃料电池的设计和制造提供一种新的方法，这种方法将具有更有效的燃料输送和水去除。 这可能导致燃料电池技术在各种应用中更广泛地采用能量转换。

The objective of this award is to improve the power density of Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells using a bio-inspired design. Graphite composite bipolar plates will be designed with complex flow paths modeled after leaf structures and fabricated using selective laser sintering, an additive manufacturing process that enables manufacture of the complex designs. Optimization of the design will be based on mathematical flow models taking into account governing mass, momentum, species and charge conservation. Experiments will be conducted to verify accuracy of finite element analyses of power density versus pressure distribution. Power density comparisons will be made with bipolar plates of conventional design.If successful, this research is expected to yield a new approach to the design and manufacture of Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells that will have more efficient fuel transport and water removal. This could lead to more widespread adoption of fuel cell technologies for energy conversion across a variety of applications.