Installing blocks in cathode flow field can effectively enhance the transfer of oxygen from channel to the reaction sites of catalyst layer, thus boosting the performance of the fuel cell. In this work, an optimization methodology combined with genetic algorithm and three-dimensional fuel cell modeling is developed to optimize the design of partially blocked channel for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with parallel flow field. In the optimization, the heights of the blocks are assumed to be linearly increased and two parameters (i.e., height of the first block and the height increase between adjacent blocks) are considered. The impact of the optimized design of the blocked channel on cell performance is analyzed, and the effects of the optimized blocked channel designs with increasing-height and uniform-height block height distributions were also compared in detail. With this optimization methodology, the optimal height distribution of the blocks in the channel can be obtained for various block numbers. With varying the block numbers, the cell voltage and net cell power are firstly improved until the maximal values reached and then lowered. The maximal net cell power is reached for the block number of 16. As compared with the flow channel without adding blocks, the net power of the PEMFC can be enhanced by about 10.9%. For pressure drop behavior, with the optimized block height distribution, the total pressure drop in cathode flow field can be maintained in similar level with varying block numbers from 4 to 20. Considering both the net power and pressure drop, the optimized blocked channels with adding 8 to 16 blocks are recommended in this study. Besides, it is indicated that the performance of the optimized block design with increasing-height is higher than that of the optimized block design with uniform-height.

在阴极流场中安装模块可以有效地增强氧气从通道到催化剂层反应部位的转移，从而提高燃料电池的性能。在这项工作中，开发了一种结合遗传算法和三维燃料电池建模的优化方法，以优化具有平行流场的质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）的部分阻塞通道的设计。在优化中，假定块的高度线性增加，并考虑两个参数（即第一个块的高度和相邻块之间的高度增加）。分析了阻塞通道的优化设计对电池性能的影响，并详细比较了优化的阻塞通道设计的高度和均匀高度的块高度分布的效果。使用这种优化方法，可以针对各种块数获得通道中块的最佳高度分布。通过改变块数，首先提高电池电压和净电池功率，直到达到最大值，然后降低。块数为16时可达到最大净电池功率。与不添加块的流动通道相比，PEMFC的净功率可提高约10.9％。对于压降行为，通过优化的块高度分布，可以将阴极流场中的总压降保持在相似的水平，并且块数从4变到20。考虑到净功率和压降，本研究建议添加8到16个块的优化阻塞通道。此外，还表明，高度增加的优化块设计的性能高于高度均匀的优化块设计的性能。