Effect of Terminal Design and Bipolar Plate Material on PEM Fuel Cell Performance.docVIP

Smart Grid and Renewable Energy, 2013, 4, 43-47 43 /10.4236/sgre.2013.41006 Published Online February 2013 (/journal/sgre) Effect of Terminal Design and Bipolar Plate Material on PEM Fuel Cell Performance Yue Hung , Hazem Tawfik , Devinder Mahajan 1 1,2 2,3 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology, Farmingdale State College, New York, USA; 2 Department of Materials Sci- ence and Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, USA; Energy Sciences Technology Department, Brookhaven Na- 3 tional Laboratory, New York, USA. Email: Jeff.hung@ Received November 18 , 2012; revised December 18 , 2012; accepted December 25 , 2012 th th th ABSTRACT Bipolar plates perform as current conductors between cells, provide conduits for reactant gases, facilitate water and thermal management through the cells, and constitute the backbone of a fuel cell stack. Currently, commercial bipolar plates are made of graphite composite because of its relatively low interfacial contact resistance (ICR) and high corro- sion resistance. However, graphite composite’s manufacturability, permeability, and durability of shock and vibration are unfavorable in comparison to metals. Therefore, metals have been considered as a replacement material for graphite composite bipolar plates. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of terminal connection design and bipolar plate material on PEM fuel cell overall performance. The study has indicated that single cell performance can be improved by combining terminals into metallic bipolar plates. This terminal design reduces the internal cell resistance and eliminates the need for additional terminal plates. The improved single cell performance by 18% an