Experimental analysis of internal gas flow configurations for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stack

The internal gas distribution system utilised for supplying fresh reactants and removing reaction products from the individual cells of a fuel cell stack can be designed in a parallel, a serial or a mixture of parallel and serial gas flow configuration. In order to investigate the interdependence between the internal stack gas distribution configuration and single cell as well as overall stack performance, a small laboratory-scale fuel cell stack consisting of identical unit cells was subject to operation with different gas distribution configurations and different operating parameters. The current/voltage characteristics measured with the different gas distribution configurations are analysed and compared on unit cell- as well as on stack-level. The results show the significant impact of the internal stack gas distribution system on operation and performance of the individual unit cells and the overall stack.