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Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with metal foam in the gas flow-field of bipolar/end plates

2003; Polytechnique Montréal; Volume: 6; Linguagem: Inglês

2292-1168

A. P. Senthil Kumar, R G Reddy,

Lubricants and Their Additives

A new concept of the use of metal foams in the bipolar/end plates of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is proposed in an effort to save the cost of machining the flow-field channels. A prototype one-cell PEMFC stack made out of SS-316 bipolar/end plate, with SS-316 metal foam in the flow-field, was built and its performance compared with that of a conventional cell stack with machined gas flow-field channels. Experiments involving temperature and pressure were also carried out. Results of these experiments verified the feasibility of using metal foams in bipolar/end plates. It is suggested that further improvements could be achieved by decreasing the permeability of the metal foam in the flow-field. Since permeability cannot be reduced in the conventional machined channel design beyond a certain threshold value, the feasibility of using metal foams in the flow-field in the bipolar/end plates of PEMFC stacks appears to provide an attractive method for cutting the cost of processing various cell components. 20 refs., 7 figs.