Air-cooled micro-porous heat exchangers for thermal management of fuel cells

This paper presents 3D numerical simulation of an air-cooled metal foam heat exchanger with potential application in thermal management of fuel cell systems in general and Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, PEMFCs, in particular. It has been shown that the new design can lead to a uniform temperature distribution for the heated plate especially at higher air flow speeds. The heat transfer enhancement because of the foams leads to an increase in the pressure drop which is, interestingly, comparable to that of water-cooled PEMFCs. Other potential benefits of the application of metal foams for fuel cell thermal management are briefly discussed and estimated.