A six-cell 'single-cell' stack for stack diagnostics and membrane electrode assembly evaluation

Abstract

Polymer electrolyte fuel cells are promising candidates as energy conversion devices in applications from portable power to stationary applications or electric vehicles. In order to achieve practical voltage, power and energy density, stacks are employed for almost all applications. Here, we present a six-cell 'single cell' stack in which individual cells can be isolated from the stack by current carrying leads found within each of the bipolar plates. The current carrying leads allow individual cells to be isolated from the rest of the stack, so that cells can either be tested together or independently. The design of the stack, utility for specific applications, including stack diagnostics and membrane electrode assembly (MEA) testing, and some experimental results, obtained using the stack, are presented. Special focus is given in this paper to the area of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) stacks, however the equipment and many of the experimental results presented are appropriate for other fuel cell systems.