Flow Distribution Measurements at the Exit of Bipolar Plates in a PEM Fuel Cell Stack

This paper presents two different experimental approaches which concentrate on capturing the flow distribution close to the anode exit header of a prototype 8-12 KW fuel cell stack operated with air at realistic flow rates. The first approach intends to visualize the penetration depth of millimeter-sized jets towards the exit manifold. The second one is focused on obtaining the exit jet velocity field downstream of the bipolar plate exit header across the entire stack height by repeated 2C-PIV measurements on densely spaced adjacent light sheet planes. An overview of the experimental setup and the data evaluation is given.