| 摘要 |
A cooling apparatus for a fuel cell assembly includes a heat transfer fluid and at least one fluid flow field plate configured to facilitate essentially passive, two-phase cooling for an membrane electrode assembly (MEA) as the MEA is subject to changes in heat flux to the heat transfer fluid from about 0 W/cm^2 to about 1.5 W/cm^2. The flow field plate includes fluid flow channels that have a channel depth, a channel spacing, a channel length, and a channel width, which are dimensioned to promote nucleated boiling of the heat transfer fluid below a critical heat flux and to prevent dryout as the heat transfer fluid passes along the length of the channels. The channels may include coatings and/or features, such as microporous or nanostructured coatings, that extend the critical heat flux and preclude dryout at the distal sections of the fluid flow channels. |
