Generative Design Puts Hydrogen Fuel Cell Development in High Gear T 20 oyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA) has developed a simulation-driven generative design method and applied it to the design of flow field microchannel plates, which direct the movement of fluid reactants in microreactors like hydrogen - oxygen fuel cells. While much of Toyota's fuel cell R&D is confidential, the TRINA team has published an article in Chemical Engineering Journal about their simulation-enabled " inverse design " process. Applying this process to flow field plates resulted in four distinctive microchannel designs (Figure 1). Each of the four designs has particular merits; all of them outperform existing benchmark designs in terms of key metrics. Just as important, they exemplify the power of process. TRINA has shown how generative design enabled by simulation can accelerate innovation. " We think that the inverse approach can revolutionize current design practice, " said Yuqing Zhou, a Research Scientist at TRINA. A Reactant's Path Through a Flow Field Plate For as long as hydrogen and oxygen keep flowing, a fuel cell will keep generating electric current. Managing the distribution of these essential gases is the job of the cell's flow field plates. Each plate includes both a microchannel structure and a porous sublayer. As hydrogen moves through the channels of the anode-side plate, it is also being forced through the sublayer toward the anode. Meanwhile, air is channeled through the www.techbriefs.com Tech Briefs, August 2023http://www.techbriefs.com