Flow Field Analysis of Different Inlet and Outlet Forms of Anode-Side Bipolar Plate in Hydrogen Production Alkaline Electrolyzer

In order to explore the flow field laws in the electrode plate of a water electrolysis cell and improve its performance, the anode-side bipolar plate of an alkaline water electrolysis cell was taken as the research object. Software was used to analyze the influence of different inlet and outlet forms on the flow field distribution of the electrode plate using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method, and the flow field characteristics of different inlet and outlet structures were compared. The simulation results show that there is a large concentration area of fluid velocity near the inlet and outlet channels at both ends of the electrode plate, and the velocity distribution gradually decreases from the inlet and outlet areas towards the center area of the electrode plate. Under the same flow rate, increasing the number of inlet and outlet channels will reduce the fluid flow velocity in the inlet and outlet areas of the electrode plate; increasing the angle of the inlet channel will increase the distribution range of the maximum flow velocity at the inlet and outlet, and reduce the flow velocity difference in other parts. When the inlet flow rate is the same, the flow of fluid on the surface of the electrode plate is more uniform with two inlets than with one inlet; the fluid flow caused by a 20° inlet arrangement is more uniform than that caused by a 15° inlet arrangement. At the same inlet flow rate, the radial inlet configuration yields a more uniform fluid distribution over the electrode plate surface in comparison with the straight-channel inlet design.