The proposed project will result in better understanding of the heat and mass transfer processes within a fuel cell, and its operation and performance with spatially variable temperatures.
The expected results are a novel cell and stack design and corresponding control strategy which will:
– eliminate the need for external humidifier resulting in a simplified supporting system,
– reduce the size of the heat exchanger required for heat removal,
– eliminate possibility for flooding of the diffusion pathways and clogging of the flow field channels.
The proposed R&D has several novel and original aspects, namely:
– a concept of required temperature field achieved by spatially variable heat removal,
– use of segmented fuel cell for variable heat removal,
– temperature regulation in each segment using Peltier elements.
As the proposed R&D is original it may result in new knowledge – design and/or control strategy, which may be patentable.