Despite the benefits of parallel channels, such as low pressure drop and ease of fabrication, they can cause flow maldistribution, leading to poor fuel cell performance. In this paper, numerical analysis was carried out to observe the effect of flow field arrangement on flow distribution uniformity and its effect on the performance of a planar solid oxide fuel cell with U-type, Z-type, and I-type arrangements. The obtained results show that the I-type has the most uniform flow, while the U-type provides the least uniformity. However, the best arrangement in terms of temperature distribution is the U-type, in which the maximum temperature is about 25 K lower than other arrangements at a voltage of 0.6 V. Better flow uniformity of the I-type results in less pressure drop, more current density, and more net output power so that the I-type generates 39% more net power than the U-type and 0.6% more than the Z-type at a voltage of 0.6 V.
