An air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell with combined oxidant and coolant flow

Combining the oxidant and coolant flow in an air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell can significantly simplify the fuel cell design. In this paper, an air-cooled PEM fuel cell stack with an open cathode flow field, which supplied the oxidant and removed the heat produced in the fuel cell, was fabricated and tested. The influence of different operating parameters on cell voltage performance and the overall cell ohmic resistance, such as cell temperature and airflow rate, was investigated. The cell temperature and the temperature difference between the cell and the hydrogen humidifier were shown to serve important roles in reducing the fuel cell ohmic resistance. The test results also showed a noteworthy temperature gradient between each cell of a 5-cell stack. A hydrophilic treatment of the cathode flow field channels was demonstrated to be an effective way to mitigate water management issues caused at elevated operating temperatures.