Flooded flow fuel cells: A different approach to fuel cell design

Flooded flow fuel cells provide a different approach to fuel cell design where gas phases are eliminated from the fuel cell structure by saturating the electrolyte with the reactant gases in separate vessels. The reactants are delivered to the electrode surface by passing the saturated liquid electrolyte across the electrode structure. This concept offers operational advantages over conventional porous-gas-diffusion electrodes, particularly for mobile applications where resistance to shock and vibration is desirable. The technical feasibility of the concept was evaluated by designing, constructing and operating an alkaline (KOH), H2---O2 fuel cell with flooded flow electrodes. Future work is focused on addressing important scale-up issues to increase current densities to commercially acceptable levels.