Powder Bed Fusion 3D Printing and Performance of Stainless-Steel Bipolar Plate with Rectangular Microchannels and Microribs

초록

For the high performance of a fuel cell where a bipolar plate (BP) is applied, rectangular channel, microchannel width, micro-rib, enough channel quantity, adequate channel depth, and innovative flow field design should be realized from a configuration standpoint. In this study, a stainless-steel BP with a microchannel flow field is fabricated with a powder bed fusion (PBF) 3D printer to improve fuel cell performance. A BP with a triple serpentine flow field, rectangular channel, 300 mu m channel width, 300 mu m rib, and 500 mu m channel depth is designed. The print is completed perfectly until the flow field. The bending phenomenon due to thermal deformation does not occur in the BP fabricated by designing the thickness at 2 mm. Performance tests are conducted using fabricated stainless-steel BPs. The current density value is 1.2052 A/cm(2) at 0.6 V. This value is higher by 52.8% than the BP with 940 mu m channels (rectangle, 940 mu m ribs, and 500 mu m channel depth). In addition, the value is higher by 24.9% than a graphite BP with 940 mu m channels (rectangle, 940 mu m ribs, and 1000 mu m channel depth). The current density values are measured at 0.6 V for 260 h.

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