Development of a cylindrical PEM fuel cell

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have strong potential as power conversion devices of the future, especially for man-portable and mobile applications. However, the manufacturing cost should be significantly reduced for making PEMFCs commercially attractive. An improvement of the power density with respect to the weight of the cell - termed as gravimetric power density in this study - can help in achieving lower manufacturing cost and reducing parasitic power losses, which is particularly important in man-portable applications. Furthermore, the power density of a PEMFC with respect to the overall volume of the cell - termed as volumetric power density in this study - must be improved for man-portable and automotive applications. The bipolar plates made out of graphite contribute significantly to the cost, weight, and volume of the cell. The state-of-the-art PEM fuel cells are of planar design. While several commercial planar prototypes have been demonstrated, cost and water management are still major issues. These problems arise partly as a result of the complicated bipolar plate design in planar PEMFC. Because the planar fuel cell concept has been so well-entrenched, alternate designs have not been seriously pursued. In this paper, we present some experimental studies on a novel cylindrical PEM fuel cell design that addresses the cost, gravimetric and volumetric power density issues. This study while highlighting the advantages of the tubular design also identifies areas of research that will have tremendous utility in further development of this technology.