Experimental investigation on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM) for high power and water management

The high efficiency and clean characteristics of fuel cells as a primary power source have had a positive impact on the public and provided the impetus for intensive research in recent years. A number of drawbacks, however, are still preventing the technology to mature. These are highlighted mainly by the unreasonably high cost and other technical issues. Successful water management in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM), particularly in the cathodic side, is considered vital to achieving high performance and stability in the output power of the cell. Previous experimental and numerical studies have investigated a number of design techniques to optimise the performance of PEM fuel cells. In this paper, comparison between different reactants channel plates and their effect on the cell performance is made. These plates are serpentine design channel plates made of graphite, aluminium and copper (coated with silver) materials. Also, the paper focuses on water droplet attachment to three different surfaces of gas diffusion carbon layers, and investigates droplet′s static and dynamic behaviour with variable air velocities. Measurement of static/dynamic contact angles and dynamic separation line for range of droplet sizes is presented. In addition, the hydrodynamic force (air velocity) required to dislodge droplets from the surface of membrane preventing it from water flooding is calculated. © 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd.