Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Yu Yang Song

Ercan Mehmet Dede

Tsuyoshi Nomura

A bipolar plate with an enhanced fluid flow field design is provided for a fuel cell. The bipolar plate includes an inlet, an outlet, and a flow field having a pattern defining a plurality of microchannels configured to provide fluid communication between the inlet and the outlet. The pattern is designed using an inverse permeability field, and is based on a reaction-diffusion algorithm to model channel spacing, thereby providing a variable pitch microchannel pattern to direct fluid from the inlet to the outlet. In various aspects, the reaction-diffusion algorithm utilize Gray-Scott reaction-diffusion equations, which may be used to obtain an anisotropic microchannel layout. The variable pitch microchannel pattern may include a channel spacing based on effective medium theory.

Flow field designs for tailored permeability fuel cell bipolar plates

Methods are provided for designing a microchannel layout for a flow field of a bipolar plate. The methods include defining a fluid flow optimization domain with boundary conditions and loads. Using a gradient-based algorithm together with computational fluid dynamics, the domain is then optimized for minimum flow resistance. The methods include setting the minimum inverse permeability to a non-zero value, and obtaining a grayscale design and fluid velocity field. Using Gray-Scott reaction diffusion equations with the grayscale design and fluid velocity field, the method includes obtaining a microchannel layout. The microchannel layout is then incorporated as a pattern for the flow field of the bipolar plate. In various aspects, anisotropic microchannels are provided; they may be formed using at least one of an additive manufacturing technique, a metal inverse opal electroplating technique, and a hybrid combination thereof.

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Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Yu Yang Song