Numerical Simulation on the Organic Fluid Two-Phase Flow and Heat Transfer in the PEMFC Cooling Plate for Waste Heat Recovery

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system is becoming one of the most potential power systems for automotive applications in the future. Though the efficiency of PEMFC is high, almost half of the hydrogen energy is taken away by coolant without being utilized. Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) could be used for the waste heat recovery of PEMFC. The working fluid of ORC flows directly into the fuel cell stack and cool the stack as the same time. In this paper, the feasibility of R245ca as the coolant of PEMFC and working fluid of ORC is studied. A simulation model of the fluid flow and heat transfer of R245ca in PEMFC cooling plates is set up with the CFD software package FLUENT. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) model is used to simulate the two-phase flow. Results show that R245ca can efficiently remove the waste heat and ensure uniform temperature distribution in PEMFC.