Arab J Sci Eng DOI 10.1007/s13369-017-2813-7 RESEARCH ARTICLE - MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Numerical Simulation and Experimental Comparison of Single, Double and Triple Serpentine Flow Channel Configuration on Performance of a PEM Fuel Cell Venkateswarlu Velisala 1 · G. Naga Srinivasulu 1 Received: 3 June 2017 / Accepted: 17 August 2017 © King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals 2017 Abstract In this study, the effect of single (1-S), double (2-S) and triple (3-S) serpentine flow field configuration on the performance of PEM fuel cell (PEMFC) was investi- gated both numerically and experimentally. First, a complete 3-D PEMFC model was developed, and simulations were carried out to examine the effect of 1-S, 2-S and 3-S flow field configuration on the performance of PEMFC using commercial CFD code ANSYS FLUENT. Along with the cell performance, important parameters such as pressure dis- tribution, mass fraction of hydrogen, oxygen, liquid water activity, current flux density distribution and the membrane water content have been presented. Next, an experimental study is carried out with a PEMFC by changing 1-S, 2-S and 3-S flow field configurations to verify the numerical pre- dictions. Finally numerically and experimentally obtained performance curves have been compared, and 1-S flow chan- nel fuel cell is found to exhibit the best electrochemical performance compared with the 2-S and 3-S flow channel fuel cells. Keywords PEM fuel cell · CFD · Serpentine flow field · Current density · Membrane water content 1 Introduction Fuel cell (FC) is an electrochemical device which transmutes the chemical energy directly into electrical energy. Depend- ing on the type of electrolyte materials, FCs classified as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), alkaline B Venkateswarlu Velisala 2venkee@gmail.com 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Warangal, Telangana, India fuel cell (AFC), phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC), molten car- bonate fuel cell (MCFC), and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The PEMFC utilizing a thin polymer film as the electrolyte can be considered as a reliable future power generating sys- tem, particularly for powering portable electronic devices, vehicular and residential power applications. This sort of fuel cell has numerous imperative points of interest, such as high efficiency, low operating temperature, clean, noise- less operation and quick start-up of the cell [1, 2]. However, the performance and cost of the PEMFCs ought to be further optimized before these FCs gets to be focused in practical applications. Bipolar plates (BPs) are a standout among the most important and viable components in the enhancement of per- formance of FCs. BPs supplies the reactants (H 2 and O 2 ), evacuates generated water, gathers generated current and gives support to the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) in FC. The pattern and configuration of channels significantly influence the adequacy of mass transport and additionally electrochemical reactions taking place in the FC. The ideal design of the channel dimension, pattern, orientation, and shape will prompt an enhanced and upgraded bipolar plate. Modeling and simulation of FCs have achieved signifi- cance in recent years, as it annotates the transport phenomena and fundamentals of the processes which are taking place inside the system that may not be possible to conclude by experiments [3]. The performance of 3D PEMFC models has been articulated in detail, earlier in the literature. Berning et al. [4] and Nguyen et al. [5] presented 3D models to analyze the transport phenomena in the PEMFC with serpentine flow channels based on CFD approach. Li et al. [6] proposed a methodology to design flow fields for better water removal and also carried out experimental studies with different sizes of flow fields. Jeon et al. [7] and Wang et al. [8]developed a 3D CFD PEMFC model with different serpentine flow 123