Simulation of hybrid nanofluids in a honeycombed PEMFC cooling plate

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is a promising clean energy technology that generates electricity from hydrogen through an electrochemical process, which produces only water and heat as by-products. Efficient thermal management is crucial for PEMFC operation to ensure optimal performance, durability, and energy efficiency. The main challenge of current PEMFC technology is inadequate thermal management, which restricts performance, efficiency, and long-term durability. Conventional cooling methods with a simple channel design are not effective due to the lower thermal conductivity characteristics of base fluids, which restrict effective heat dissipation. Nanofluids with a superior heat transfer performance has been investigated in a honeycomb design of PEMFC cooling plate for its thermal performance improvement. In this study, a 0.5% volume concentration of Al_2 O_(3 ): SiO_(2 )nanofluids with mixture ratio of 10:90, 50:50 and 60:40 was investigated. The simulation was conducted at laminar flow and constant heat of 8000 W/m2 to mimic the operational condition of PEMFC. At 1.6 m/s, the result shows that the highest thermal performance was obtained by the Al₂O₃: SiO₂ (10:90) hybrid nanofluids, which reduced the maximum surface temperature by 6.47% and improved the temperature uniformity by 75.7% compared to water. A 68% rise in the Nusselt number and the highest heat transfer coefficient of 1483.84 W/m²·K, with 69.7% improvement, were also observed. However, although the pumping power increases, it remains manageable relative to the overall power output of a full-scale PEMFC system in practical applications..